A near collision around noon Wednesday between two trucks hauling asphalt and pears snarled traffic on Lakeville Highway and state Highway 37 in Sonoma County for several hours, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The driver of a tractor-trailer loaded with pears traveling south on Lakeville Highway failed to notice stopped traffic ahead and swerved to the left to avoid hitting a stopped Land Rover, CHP Officer Kimberly Lemons said.
The abrupt swerve caused the load of pears to shift and several large containers became disconnected and struck the back of the Land Rover.
The tractor-trailer drove directly in front of a tanker truck hauling liquid asphalt, and the asphalt truck driver swerved to the right and down an embankment to avoid a head-on collision, Lemons said.
One of the asphalt tanks overturned in a field and spilled 2,500 gallons of asphalt.
A Point Reyes woman and her daughter in the Land Rover suffered minor injuries and were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, and the driver of the asphalt truck was not injured.
A Sonoma County Transportation Department road crew cleaned the spilled pears and the asphalt cleanup will be ongoing, Lemons said.
Traffic was backed up on Highway 37 for miles in each direction and traffic on Lakeville Highway was detoured onto state Highway 116. Lakeville Highway between Highway 37 and Highway 116 was closed until 3:45 p.m.
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