Boulder lands on roof of car on US50 west of Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A driver heading westbound on US50 over Echo Summit got a little more than they bargained for Wednesday afternoon.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) received a call at 1:30 p.m. January 13 from a person traveling on the highway that a rock "the size of a Yeti Cooler" was on the roadway, according to Officer Ruth Loehr. CHP responded and found not only the 2ft x 3ft boulder in the roadway, they also found the vehicle that it hit.

The person calling in the incident didn't know a car had been involved at the time but CHP found a black Dodge Charger pulled over near the Caltrans maintenance station. They had been driving through the area on Echo Summit known for falling rock when the boulder came down on their roof, smashing the sun roof. It didn't penetrate the car and there were no injuries. Though sustaining significant damage the vehicle was drivable.

"Caltrans Maintenance staff evaluated the area after the incident and determined it to be stable. They will continue to monitor it and do a rock-scaling operation if necessary as snow melts and rocks tend to shift," said Steve Nelson of Caltrans.

It is always good advice on this stretch of highway between the Old Meyers Grade and the maintenance station to be aware of possible rocks and dirt coming off the mountain. It has been more common in the past to have the rocks fall in front of moving vehicles, instead of on their roofs.