Semi-truck runs stop sign at Fresno County intersection, injures driver

A stop sign violation at Maple and American Avenues sent a Chevrolet pickup spinning into a telephone pole and left a 24-year-old Fowler man with minor injuries after a three-axle Volvo semi truck and trailer struck him in the intersection.

California Highway Patrol said the semi was traveling westbound on American Avenue and failed to stop at the stop sign on April 17 evening. The pickup was headed southbound on Maple Avenue when the semi hit its left rear in the rural Fresno County intersection. After the impact, the pickup spun out, struck a telephone pole and came to rest against an orchard.

The pickup driver was not wearing a seat belt and was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, CHP said. The 22-year-old Fresno man driving the semi was not hurt. There were no passengers in either vehicle.

The crash once again puts a spotlight on fast-moving county roads where drivers rely on stop signs, limited sight lines and split-second judgment to cross through intersections used by farm vehicles, commuters and trucks moving across the county. Fresno County public works records show nearby American Avenue and Golden State Boulevard has already been the focus of intersection-improvement work, including traffic signals and turn-lane additions, as officials have tried to address safety on roads carrying heavy daily traffic.

County documents list average daily traffic of about 3,000 vehicles on American Avenue and 4,000 on Golden State Boulevard near that intersection, a reminder that even rural roadways in this part of Fresno County can carry substantial traffic volumes. The Maple and American collision adds to that broader concern and raises the question of whether additional safety changes are needed at intersections where truck traffic and local drivers mix every day.

CHP says parties of interest can request a crash report through its crash portal or by completing a CHP 190 form. That process matters for drivers, families and property owners trying to understand how a collision happened and what, if anything, should change next at rural intersections like Maple and American.