Bus Accident Might Have Been Avoided, Study Says

A report Wednesday from the Los Angeles Board of Public Works confirmed that a freak trash truck accident in December might have been prevented with better safety oversight of automated truck parts and better communications among the drivers, mechanics, the sanitation department and the manufacturers.

In her interim report to Mayor Richard Riordan, board President J.P. Ellman calls for requiring truck manufacturers to raise safety standards and require that vehicles and parts last a specified time.

Two children were killed in the December incident, when a truck’s compacting arm swung out of control and smashed into the school bus window.

A Times report last month documented two years of warnings from maintenance workers that the trucks, built by Amrep Inc. of Ontario, had design flaws and inferior workmanship.

Memos indicated that the workers were most concerned about inferior welding that caused cracks in crucial parts--a big part in the deaths of the two boys, Brian Serrano and Javier Mata.

Wednesday’s report summarized the work of two committees put together by Public Works--one consisting of mechanics, truck drivers, supervisors and union officials, and another of cities, truck makers and private waste haulers.

Among their other concerns, both committees independently suggested the need for industrywide standards for automated refuse trucks.

Although state and federal standards are in place for parts such as brakes, lights and tires, only scant specifications exist for the parts of the trucks that pick up, carry and dispose of trash, the committees found.

Furthermore, both committees said contracts with manufacturers should stipulate performance requirements--how long the trucks should last and how much maintenance they might require. City memos showed that trash truck drivers complained that the trucks frequently broke down or showed structural problems when quite new.

Ellman also suggested that all parts of the truck and body design include engineering analysis.

In examining the safety procedures now in place for trash truck maintenance, the report maintained that newer, high-tech equipment poses “significant challenges” to city personnel.

Partly because of city purchasing policies, the trash truck fleet is not uniform, posing problems in training mechanics, obtaining spare parts and reporting problems to manufacturers, the report said.

Slow filling of vacant positions in collection, safety and maintenance areas has increased the workload of employees. “Operational safety should be the primary consideration in such decisions,” the report says.

The report appears to point out some basic oversights in accepting truck shipments, implying that city workers were not checking new trucks for problems or were accepting the problems when they found them.

Trucks should be examined upon receipt, according to one suggestion, and deviations from the design requirements “should not be tolerated or accepted by the city.”

Another item suggests that truck operators must understand the truck performance limitations and capabilities, and seek advice from mechanics.