Tragedy That Need Not Have Occurred : Trash truck safety scrutinized after boys’ deaths

As he ended his shift Tuesday evening, a Los Angeles city trash truck driver was bothered by a suspicion that his truck had a mechanical problem. He documented his concern on a report sheet and passed it to city mechanics. The next morning--as another driver, unaware of the problem, was at the wheel--a hydraulic rod shot from the vehicle and raked a passing school bus. Two children were killed and two others were injured in the first fatal bus accident in the history of the Los Angeles school district.

Francisco Mata and Brian Serrano, both 8, suffered mortal head injuries in the accident, which occurred near downtown Los Angeles. City officials say the report of the truck’s suspected problem was never acted on. The maintenance supervisor was too busy. On Thursday, some immediate policy changes were ordered, such as posting on vehicle dashboards a notice of any mechanical problems.

Mayor Richard Riordan has called for an investigation and review of trash truck inspection procedures, and state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) has announced her intention to form a state panel to look into public vehicle maintenance in the context of shrinking local budgets.

These inquiries and others will have many questions to consider. Among them: What happened between when the suspected problem was reported and when the truck was allowed to leave the sanitation district yard Wednesday? Were proper procedures followed? City trash trucks using the piston apparatus to pick up curbside refuse cans have been sidelined more than 30% of the time; did that issue get lost in a bureaucratic haze?

Some parents, shocked by the accident and fearing that school bus rides are unsafe, probably will keep their children home. Although such concern is understandable, the fact is that Wednesday’s tragedy was due to no fault of the bus driver or the school district.

That’s not to say busing kids is not an issue here. Every day, 70,000 children in the L.A. Unified School District must board buses for what is often a long, uncomfortable ride to school. This is the necessary but unfortunate outgrowth of school overcrowding and the dearth of schools in neighborhoods where the school-age population has exploded in recent years, particularly in the central city.

Accidents will happen, but this one clearly could have been avoided, and probably without too much effort. For Francisco Mata and Brian Serrano, best friends who played together and died together, a wave of attention to public safety comes too late. Survivors: After L.A. school bus accident.