A man died when his truck collided with a Caltrans truck that was trailing a sweeper vehicle on southbound U.S. Highway 101 in San Jose on Monday morning, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.
The crash was reported shortly after 10:30 a.m. on southbound Highway 101 near the Brokaw Road off-ramp.
The Caltrans sweeper and a "shadow truck" behind it to protect it from traffic were traveling at about 5 mph south in the center divider of the highway, with the "shadow truck" partially in the far left highway lane, CHP Officer Ross Lee said.
A white Dodge Ram going about 65-70 mph in the far left lane then struck the back of the shadow truck. The Dodge driver died in the crash, and his identity was not yet released, Lee said.
The crash prompted the closure of all southbound lanes of the highway for nearly nine hours, with traffic being diverted onto Highway 87, according to Lee. Traffic was backed up as far north as Mountain View.
All lanes were reopened at about 7:15 p.m.
The CHP continued to investigate the cause of the crash late Monday night.
