Probe of Fatal Truck Accident Continues

The day after a truck drove beneath a bridge 2 inches too low--knocking off a 7,000-pound tank it was carrying and killing a driver in the car behind--officials tried to determine exactly why the accident happened.

The California Highway Patrol identified the victim as Tam Trong Tran, 36, of Westminster. His white Nissan 300ZX was crushed when the truck’s cargo, an empty fiberglass fuel tank that rode 15 feet high, landed on his car.

The tractor-trailer was traveling Friday evening from Xerxes Corp. in Anaheim, where the fuel tank was made, to Ogden, Utah. The accident happened as the truck passed under the La Palma Avenue bridge, which spans the transition road from the west Riverside Freeway to the Orange Freeway.

Caltrans officials Saturday said the bridge was clearly marked with a clearance of 14 feet, 10 inches, and it historically has not been a problem for truckers. Although the Riverside-Orange freeways interchange has been noted for a high number of truck accidents, only one such accident has occurred at the bridge in recent years, spokeswoman Rose Orem said.

By contrast, CHP records show 33 accidents--10 involving trucks--have occurred in the construction zone at the Santa Ana and Riverside freeways interchange since 1997. The most recent occurred in March, when a Glendale man was killed when an 8,000-gallon fuel truck toppled onto his car. The truck driver also was killed, but that accident was caused by speed, not collision with a bridge.

According to a 1998 Orange County transportation study, sites likely to see truck accidents, along with the Riverside-Orange freeways intersection, include the meeting of the Garden Grove and San Diego freeways in the Westminster-Seal Beach area and Interstate 5 at La Paz Road in Mission Viejo.

Truck safety has been a serious concern for county officials. After the March tanker-truck crash, OCTA board members began reviewing ways to reduce the risk of truck accidents.

Some procedures, however, already are in place. Truckers hauling loads more than 14 feet high are required to file their travel route and seek a permit from Caltrans. The driver, Lyle Wilson, 42, of Salt Lake City, was believed to have had such a permit, Orem said.

“Monday we’ll probably be confirming that and also checking to see if he was following the recommended truck route,” she said. The permits must be sought before every trip and are good for up to five days, she said.

CHP officials said Wilson, a trucker for 26 years who was hauling the cargo for Statewide Transport in Salt Lake City, had not been cited as of Saturday afternoon. The accident, however, is still under investigation.

Although the bridge was clearly marked, by modern standards it is considered to be low. The bridge was built in the 1950s or 1960s, Orem said, when trucks were shorter and hauled smaller loads. It is one of hundreds in Orange County that will be replaced with a 16-foot-high bridge as part of a federal highway program.

Although accidents involving trucks hauling approved loads with proper permits are unusual, motorists should always be careful when driving near trucks, Orem said.

“I just try to recommend caution when traveling next to a large rig--give them plenty of space and plenty of clearance, leaving enough reaction time for yourself so if they have to suddenly brake you can take defensive action,” she said.