Residents Rally Against Trucks

Days after a popular Anaheim Hills resident was killed when a runaway truck clipped and crumpled a dozen cars at a congested intersection, parents, students and teachers rallied Monday for big rigs to be banned from local streets during school hours.

Motorists honked horns and yelled encouragement as they drove through the intersection of Imperial Highway and Nohl Ranch Road, where 50 or so protesters held signs reading, “Stop Commercial Traffic” and “Public Safety First.”

A driver in a red Jeep rolled down his windows as he glided past the group, yelling, “Yes! Absolutely!”

While the group vowed to push city leaders to tighten laws and increase penalties for overweight trucks, Anaheim city leaders said they already have begun looking for solutions to help ease residents’ fears. Staff from the city attorney’s office and Public Works and Police departments hope to make their preliminary recommendations at the March 20 City Council meeting.

“We’re taking it very seriously,” Public Works Director Gary Johnson said.

Johnson said he could not disclose those options, adding only that they were looking at many possibilities--”Some are pretty obvious, some may not be.”

Kenneth M. Larkin, a 53-year-old optometrist, was killed Thursday morning when his Blazer was rammed by a truck hauling gravel and towing a vehicle on a flatbed. Six others, including the truck driver, were injured. The intersection where the accident occurred is near an elementary school, a high school and a park.

Protesters said their campaign is aimed at getting city leaders to make the neighborhood safer. Some said police should beef up enforcement. Others suggested increased penalties for violators who ignore the school zone as they drive down a 12% grade. Others have called for reducing the speed limit, devising an alternative truck route, adding speed bumps or putting in cameras that record drivers who run red lights.

Parents plan to attend City Council meetings and launch a letter-writing campaign to local politicians, said Lissa Smith, who organized Monday’s rally.

“It’s a great effort because everyone’s children [are] at risk and everyone is concerned,” said Inaam Alamire, 43, of Orange, who said she crosses the intersection four times a day to drop off and pick up her children at Canyon High School and El Rancho Middle School. “It’s a high-risk intersection.”

“It’s a danger zone,” said Cindy Bulman, 36, of Anaheim Hills, who walks her children to school daily. “We know we can’t totally eliminate all commercial trucks because they need to make their deliveries, but we need to do something about them speeding around our children.”

Larkin’s widow, Annie, wore dark sunglasses as she waved at the passing cars. Joined by other family members, she later placed a Calla lily and lighted a candle at a curbside memorial for her husband.

City laws require truck drivers on Imperial Highway or Nohl Ranch Road to obtain a permit if they are carrying more than 6,000 pounds. The semi in Thursday’s accident weighed about 28,000 pounds. The trucker, Anthony Saiz, 47, was driving with an expired license and had not gotten a permit.

Had Saiz been stopped by police for failing to have a permit to carry the heavy load, he could have risked a fine of about $4,400, said Leslie White, office supervisor for the traffic division at the North Justice Center in Fullerton. The fine is calculated on a sliding scale based on the weight of the truck’s load.

Police stressed that the area has been under strict surveillance since August, after three accidents involving trucks with faulty equipment.

The day before the accident, additional traffic officers were trained in commercial enforcement. They cruise the city and stop big rigs to check brakes, measure their weight with portable scales and ask for permits.

“We’re continuing with the heavy effort,” Sgt. Rick Martinez said. “There’s been a lot of concentration placed out there, and it’s hopefully been working. This was an unfortunate accident.”

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Times staff writer Kimi Yoshino contributed to this report.