Stepped-Up Trucker Monitoring on the Table

When Anthony Robert Saiz ran his commercial truck through an Anaheim Hills intersection in March, killing one man and smashing into a dozen vehicles, he was driving with an expired license and a record of five commercial and two personal driving violations in the previous three years.

Saiz tested positive for methamphetamine and morphine use after the accident. From 1998 to 2000 he’d been cited for offenses that included driving a commercial truck with faulty brakes, exceeding the maximum truck weight load and failure to obey traffic signs, according to Department of Motor Vehicle records.

You’d think with all those violations, Saiz would have shown up on somebody’s radar screen. Unfortunately, neither his employer nor enforcement agencies stopped the Lakewood trucker from driving.

The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 says that drivers of large trucks or buses can lose their commercial licenses if convicted of certain driving offenses involving their commercial vehicle.

But too many bad drivers fall through the cracks, says Michael Scippa, executive director of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, or CRASH, a Bay Area group that advocates stronger truck safety laws.

Many agencies don’t share information that could help track down a dangerous truck driver, and license suspension rules do not let authorities look at drivers’ personal driving records.

The problem of truckers with bad records continuing to find driving jobs has created such a safety hazard that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, has proposed a new rule that would allow regulators to consider drivers’ personal driving records. It also eases barriers that keep various jurisdictions and agencies from sharing information about truck drivers’ records.

Offenses that would disqualify a driver include drunken driving, excessive speed, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, committing a general or substance-related felony and violating railroad grade crossing signs.

More than 5,000 people were killed and 140,000 injured in large-truck crashes nationwide in 1999, and officials hope the new proposal will result in fewer risky drivers being behind the wheel of a big rig.

Truck safety advocates say it’s about time.

Holding truckers accountable for their personal driving records as well as their commercial performance seems like a “no brainer,” CRASH’s Scippa says.

An estimated 9,000 truck drivers could be disqualified from driving if the proposed rule is adopted, he says. Acting Deputy FMSCA Administrator Julie Anna Cirillo says nearly 500 commercial-vehicle-related accidents would be avoided annually if the new rule takes effect.

American Trucking Assn. spokesman Tom Amontree said his organization has supported the concept of disqualifying drivers with bad records and will comment on the proposed rule after policy specialists have a chance to review it. “We want to make sure all the drivers out there are the best and the safest,” he says.

In the Anaheim Hills crash that killed Anaheim optometrist Kenneth Michael Larkin, Saiz is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He also faces a felony charge of driving under the influence and driving with an expired license.

In addition to his commercial driving citations, Saiz’s personal DMV record incudes citations for expired and improper vehicle registrations, no proof of insurance and failure to provide seat belts for passengers, according to attorney Wylie Aitken, who represents Larkin’s family.

At the time of the accident, Saiz’s truck greatly exceeded the maximum load weight and seven of the eight braking systems on the truck were out of adjustment, Aitken says.

Aug. 2 is the deadline for public and industry comment on the proposed rules. Written comments can be faxed to the Department of Transportation at (202) 493-2251 or mailed to the USDOT Docket Facility, Attn: Docket No. FMCSA-00-782, Room PL-401, 400 7th St. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590-0001.

The rule is also posted on the Internet and can be viewed at https://dms.dot.gov. Comments can be submitted at https://dmses.dot.gov/submit.

*

Jeanne Wright cannot answer mail personally but responds in this column to automotive questions of general interest. Please do not telephone. Write to Your Wheels, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St.,

Los Angeles, CA 90012. E-mail: jeanrite@aol.com.