It was a Wednesday evening like any other on the I-70 west of Denver until a truck carrying copious amounts of oranges and mangoes crashed, spilling its sticky and fruity cargo all over the eastbound side of the highway.
The interstates became a fruit salad as stunned drivers witnessed this unusual sight. The Idaho Springs Police Department tweeted around 9:50 PM, alerting commuters of the accident that caused a slippery mess on the road.
While no one was injured in the single-vehicle accident, the oranges and mangoes from the overturned truck rolled onto the westbound lanes, causing significant damage to at least one car driving in the opposite direction.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) sprang into action, using snow plows to clear the highway of the fruit scattered all over its surface. It was a challenging task for the snow plows, as oranges and mangoes are not something they usually deal with during their winter cleaning operations.
The cleanup efforts took several hours and caused a significant delay on the interstate as authorities cleared the road.
As if the situation wasn’t already bizarre enough, a third accident unfolded while authorities tried to handle the cleanup. A semi-truck rear-ended another vehicle in the eastbound lanes, adding to the chaos of the evening.
According to the ISD, the driver of the fruit-carrying pickup truck was cited for careless driving. While they may have been transporting sweet and tasty fruits, they needed to be more careful driving.
The incident left a lasting impression on those witnessing this most unusual traffic jam. Even the transport of fruit can cause a sticky and unforeseen mess on our roads.
