2 Measures Seek to Reduce Truck Safety Violations

Voicing concern over the high rate of safety violations involving trucks, two state lawmakers Wednesday announced a legislative package aimed at making California highways safer.

The package consists of two bills by Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) and Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda). It would require the California Highway Patrol to annually conduct at least 100,000 additional big-rig equipment inspections and make it easier to revoke a trucker’s driver license for repeated traffic violations.

At a press conference, Katz, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said the package is “designed to bring truck safety to California.”

Seymour cited figures showing that the number of fatal accidents involving trucks has increased 40% in California in the last six years.

The Katz bill, which has been approved by the Assembly and is pending in the Senate, is supported by the Teamsters Union and the California State Automobile Assn. It would raise up to $10 million a year by levying inspection fees on truckers. The Seymour measure, which still must be approved by both houses, spells out the procedure for the inspections.

Under current law, trucks are inspected at random, and truckers are not charged a fee for the inspections. The CHP, which has taken a “neutral” position on Katz’s legislation, said it conducted about 321,000 truck inspections last year.

Katz and Seymour proposed that trucking firms be charged an annual fee of $15 per vehicle to cover the cost of CHP inspections.

The legislation would require that truck companies for the first time inspect their vehicles at least every 45 days. The plan would also streamline procedures for the state to notify employers whenever a driver receives a ticket or is in an accident.

Katz and Seymour said their concern about truck safety was sparked by the 1986 death of David Shanbrom, 27, of Santa Ana, whose car was struck by an out-of-control big rig near San Dimas. The lawmakers said the truck had a brake problem, and since Shanbrom’s death, his parents have waged a campaign to crackdown on unsafe trucks.