Legislator Prompted by Personal Experience : Stiffer Law on Covering of Gravel Trucks Urged

State legislation that would toughen a law requiring loaded gravel or sand trucks to have a covering was promoted at a San Diego press conference Thursday by State Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda).

The proposed bill would make it a misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine and up to six months in jail, for uncovered vehicles loaded with sand or gravel to be on a freeway, Katz said.

Under an existing law, it is merely an infraction to carry a sand or gravel load without covering it. A law enforcement officer must see the infraction or have an eyewitness who can identify the truck’s driver in order to prosecute, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman. The fine for a first offense is less than $35, the spokesman said.

Katz, who is chairman of the state Assembly Transportation Committee, said at the press conference at Karl’s Glass Co. on Market Street and Tenth Avenue, that he has been traveling statewide to garner grass-roots support for his bill.

Katz said the proposed bill, which he calls, “Stop the Rocks,” should come before the Assembly for a vote the second week of January.

The idea to sponsor the bill came to him nine months ago when he saw a flying rock crack another car’s windshield on the Golden State Freeway, Katz said. “I thought to myself, ‘somebody ought to do something about this.’ Then it struck me that I could.”

During the press conference Katz showed a windshield that had been cracked by gravel that had bounced off a truck.

The proposed bill is not a new one, Katz said. For 10 years lawmakers have tried to pass such a bill, but the sand and gravel trucking lobby has defeated it consistently, saying it would cost too much to have the trucks covered. But it would only take between $150 and $200 to cover a truck with tarpaulin from the back of the cab to the back of the truck, Katz said.

Harvey Heaton, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol confirmed the CHP’s support for the proposed bill. “We would love to see these trucks covered,” Heaton said.

He said officers write more than 30 citations a month for vehicles found in violation of the existing law.

Another speaker, Alan Macenski, from the American Society of Safety Engineers, spoke of the threat that debris from gravel trucks can temporarily divert the attention of a driver and “could set off a chain of reactions that could be dangerous.”

On hand to add their comments were a few motorcycle enthusiasts, complete with jackets and leather boots, from an organization called the American Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education (A.B.A.T.E.), a “nonprofit political organization which promotes the passage” of legislation beneficial to the public, said Joe Nemecek, one of its members.

“Imagine traveling at high speed and having someone throw sand in your face,” said Nemecek, displaying glasses whose lenses have been badly scratched by flying sand.

One member who called himself “Snowman” said he has experienced being sandblasted for several miles and having to pull over because sand stays in the air for awhile after it comes off the truck.

Katz plans other press conferences in San Francisco and Fresno next week.