CHP Hopes to Put Brakes on Big Rig Crashes

When California Highway Patrol Officer Dave Webb learned a Federal Express truck had careened off the Ventura Freeway two weeks ago and plowed into several parked cars, he thought it was a tragic coincidence.

The accident was the third in the past month on Ventura County roadways involving big rigs, a string of smashups that left two dead and traffic snarled for hours.

Concerned about those incidents, CHP officials have put officers on heightened alert for truckers driving too fast, driving in the wrong lane or carrying loads with overprescribed weight limits.

“Our county has been unfortunate enough to have more than the normal number of accidents this year,” Webb said. “There is no rhyme or reason to it, but we have units out there specifically trying to get the big rigs to slow down.”

The crashes had different causes, Webb said, which has made it difficult to develop strategies for preventing accidents.

In the most recent incident, a Federal Express truck swerved out of control when a rock hit its windshield. It plowed through several parked cars before exploding in flames near Oxnard. No one was hurt, though the blaze ignited the office of a pest control company.

Two weeks earlier a big rig slid out of control on a rain-slicked section of Ventura Freeway, crashed through the center divider and collided with a two-trailer semitruck and a pickup truck near Oxnard. The driver of the pickup was killed.

And in late February, the driver of a tanker truck was killed, and the 4,000 gallons of crude oil he was carrying dumped into county streams, when he lost control of his truck in a remote canyon north of Santa Paula.

Webb said the CHP has an effective system of monitoring trucks and that accident rates fluctuate for no discernible reason.

The county has two cars and four trucks to conduct spot checks on big rigs and focus on speed and lane enforcement.

The agency also received for the second year a $50,000 state grant to pay a CHP officer to monitor speeds along California 118, which truckers often use to cut from the Golden State Freeway to the Ventura Freeway.

A 24-hour safety inspection center near the top of the Conejo Grade off the Ventura Freeway checks brakes, suspension, weight and a vehicle’s frame before allowing it to move down the grade. Inspections take about 10 minutes, but sometimes drivers can be delayed for days while problems are fixed, said CHP Sgt. Sherie Latimer, supervisor of the facility.

She said one in every five trucks that pass through the 28-employee station has a problem. The brakes are the single biggest liability, she said.

“Brake systems require constant maintenance because rubber hoses wear from age and from rubbing,” Latimer said. “If they are not working, you’ve got a little missile going down the road that can’t be stopped.”

Frank Stephens, 63, was one of those detained at the facility Friday afternoon. He and a co-worker were hauling dirt from Amgen in Newbury Park to a site in Oxnard. His co-worker’s truck was 2,000 pounds over the weight limit, and they spent an hour shoveling dirt from one truck to the other.

“The scales have an important function,” said Stephens, who admitted he was annoyed at the drudgery of shoveling. “It’s a necessity because a lot of people don’t take care of their trucks or fix their equipment. This prevents breakdowns that could cause accidents that kill people.”

Although safety inspections are important, Webb said most accidents are a result of driver error.

One way officers encourage truckers to obey the law is make high-profile stops along major roadways in plain view of other truckers.

On average over the past five years, CHP records show seven people have been killed each year in Ventura County and 200 injured in accidents involving big rigs.

Driving at unsafe speeds was said to be the most frequent cause of those accidents, the CHP said.

“If the drivers were going slower or were more attentive and trying to expect the unexpected, they might leave a bigger cushion,” Webb said. “There are a lot of things that could deter a traffic collision.”