Motorist Injured in Crash With Big Rig

A man driving a pickup truck escaped with minor injuries after his vehicle rammed into the back of a big rig.

While traveling in the slow lane of the Foothill Freeway just west of Sunland Boulevard late Friday night, the pickup truck hit the back of the 18-wheeler, leaving the pickup’s front portion lodged under the back of the semitrailer. The accident, which happened about midnight, caused the big rig’s load of thousands of nails to spill onto the freeway, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The freeway was closed for more than three hours while workers cleaned up the nails. A Fire Department spokesman said paramedics found the driver of the pickup walking in a daze along the freeway.

Neither driver’s name was released. The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured.