Paper Strewn Across Road Slows Traffic on 101

Saturday afternoon, drivers on Highway 101 near the Civic Center were backed up as everyone tried to get a look at thousands of pieces of paper strewn across the northbound lanes just past the San Pedro Road exit.

The odd display was the result of a spill from a flatbed trailer. 

Around 1 p.m., Isaac Oxlaj was driving a moving truck with a flatbed trailer attached, according to the California Highway Patrol. A lack of secure restraints caused the load to fall from the trailer, which included steel rails, plywood and legal documents.

CHP removed large pieces of debris from the roadway and CalTrans was called out to assist in the remaining removal of the papers. As of 6 p.m., hundreds of pieces of paper and parts of books were still spread across the side of the road and the inner northbound lane, blown around by the wind, creating an odd white hillside. Traffic remained slightly slowed in the southbound direction, as drivers stopped to take in the spectacle.

Oxlaj pulled over approximately a mile north of the accident and will be charged with spilling a load on the roadway and driving while unlicensed, said the CHP.