California and the West : 2nd Sweep Targets Unsafe Farm Labor Vehicles : Workers: CHP strike force issues more than 70 tickets in crackdown from San Diego to Redding in wake of crash that killed 13 last month.

For the second time in two weeks, the California Highway Patrol cast its net statewide Wednesday and snagged a heaping load of illegal farm labor drivers and hazardous vehicles.

A special “strike force” of 50 officers roamed the highways in busy harvest areas in the predawn darkness, in search of unlicensed drivers and unsafe vans that transport thousands of agricultural workers to and from the fields.

From San Diego through the vast Central Valley to Redding in the north, at least 161 vehicles were pulled over during the early hours and a flurry of citations issued as laborers rode to work sites, according to preliminary CHP figures. At least seventy-eight tickets were issued.

Although a final count for the day was unavailable, the patrol said the morning sweep found 35 unlicensed drivers and 37 vans or buses that were not approved to carry farm laborers. Twenty-one vehicles were grounded immediately, most for violations such as bad brakes, lights that don’t work and dangerous tires.

The agency said 35 drivers were not licensed and 37 vans or buses were not certified to transport farm laborers. Twenty-one vehicles were immediately grounded, most for safety violations such as bad brakes, nonworking lights and hazardous tires.

The sweep of California’s farming regions was the second such unannounced action by the CHP since 13 workers jammed into an uncertified van were killed Aug. 9 in a crash in Fresno County.

The unlicensed driver of that van had a history of traffic offenses, including an arrest for drunken driving. Such crashes have been common in California for years, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley at harvest time.

Highway Patrol officials had hoped that the first sweep on Aug. 19, which resulted in 119 tickets, would spur greater compliance by farm labor vehicle owners, many of them labor contractors. Indeed, some officers in the field have said they believed compliance had begun to improve.

But CHP Commissioner D.W. “Spike” Helmick said Wednesday he was disappointed.

“These numbers today are way too high and unacceptable. I would have thought that as bad as they got beat up last week, they would have received the message,” Helmick said. “They’re going to see us again real soon.”

In words aimed at the labor transporters, Helmick said: “These workers have got to be transported with dignity and safety. You are carrying people. You are not carrying a load of potatoes.”

In the grape harvest country of the southern San Joaquin Valley, CHP Sgt. Ted Eichman said 28 officers had a “long but a very productive day,” pulling over 86 vehicles during the morning shift and issuing 23 citations.

Eichman said 11 drivers were cited for driving without a license, which appears to be a troubling trend. He said the morning sweep focused chiefly on areas surrounding Shafter and Wasco, where 28 workers were given rides to safe places by the CHP.