A serious crash on I-5 near Eugene has left one critical point and is disrupting traffic for hours

Early Saturday morning, Oct. 26, a serious crash involving a white semi and a silver pickup truck occurred on Southbound Interstate 5 near Saginaw.

The semi, traveling at 55 miles per hour, collided with the pickup truck that had reportedly entered the fast lane while facing the opposite direction.

The impact seriously injured the pickup driver and they were transported to a Eugene hospital, while the semi driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was helped out of the cab by paramedics. Despite the severity of the crash, none of the nine cars carrying the semi became loose.

“The semi-truck didn’t have enough time to even brake,” said Michael Clement, co-owner of Puddle Jumper Towing. “I think that obviously pushed the truck off the road quite a bit and the semi-truck suffered massive damage, heavy damage to the front end and went off the road because the steering was compromised.”

The crash closed the left lane of i-5 for about seven hours and reopened around 10 a.m. Alpha towing and Puddle Jumper towing handled the extensive recovery, removing the semi and all vehicles. Oregon State Police are investigating the incident.