EISPIRATEN

mattmaxon wrote:

Layne Cantrell wrote:Hopefully it doesn't take four years to get this bridge fixed like it did near Wrightwood.

On April 1, 2009, Juan Palomino, a County of Los Angeles firefighter, was driving home in his personal vehicle on his usual route from work at the Mt. Gleason Station in the Angeles National Forest. He was southbound on the Highway at about 4:15 p.m. when he caught up to an 18-wheel semi-trailer diesel truck transporting a load of vehicles. The 25-ton truck was registered to Costa, holder of a Class A commercial driver's license. The truck was traveling at about 15 miles per hour and emitting a continuous cloud of white smoke from its rear left wheels, along with a smell of burning rubber. During the three miles that Palomino followed the truck, it crossed the center dividing line five or six times.

Because the presence of such a large truck on the Highway was something "out of the norm," Palomino decided he would try to stop the driver and advise him. He pulled up next to the truck, honked his horn, and asked the driver to pull over.[ 1 ] They pulled over in a two-lane passing area near the Monte Cristo Campground.

Costa, who was sitting in the truck's passenger seat at the time, got out and told Palomino that he was going to Los Angeles. Palomino did not identify himself as a firefighter, but told Costa the following: (1) The Highway was a bad route for a truck so large, and that he had never seen a truck that size on the Highway; (2) the truck's brakes were "putting out a lot of smoke"; (3) the truck's brakes would be under even more stress on the downhill portion of the Highway going into La Cañada; (4) the rear of the truck's trailer had been crossing over the Highway's double yellow lines; (5) the Highway gets steeper, narrower, and has sharper turns before its descent into the La Cañada area; (6) a lot of rush hour traffic would be coming up the Highway (northbound) from La Cañada; and (7) two miles beyond the Monte Cristo campground, Costa would reach a low profile tunnel that could accommodate his large truck only if he drove down the middle of the two lanes, and that rush hour traffic would be coming in the opposite direction.

Palomino kept emphasizing that rush hour traffic was approaching and Costa needed to be careful because his brakes were smoking, his truck was already crossing the yellow line, and the road would get steeper and narrower, and the turns sharper. He also advised Costa, "If I were you, I would turn around here and go back." Palomino advised him that where they had pulled over was the best place to turn around because it was the one area with two passing lanes, thereby giving Costa four lanes to turn the truck around. Costa appeared to be listening to what Palomino was saying.

Costa did not indicate he would be turning around, so Palomino provided Costa with an alternative route that would avoid the narrow tunnel and be on an upgrade — Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road. Costa asked for the location of Upper Big Tujunga, so Palomino drew him a map. Costa did not indicate whether he would take this route. After 15 minutes of talking to Costa, Palomino again told him to be careful, emphasized rush hour was coming from the opposite direction, and left in his vehicle.

A short time later, Joshua Kent was driving north on the Highway toward Antelope Valley when he saw a dark red or orange semi-trailer truck carrying a load of vehicles. The truck crossed over into Kent's lane as he came around a left bend about a mile after the Mill Creek station, which is quite a distance before the Monte Cristo Campground. Kent had to immediately react to avoid a collision. Kent, who has used the Highway daily to commute to work from the Antelope Valley, had never seen such a large truck on that portion of the Highway. He said the truck was going "extremely fast" and was "unsafe."

Thomas Kimrey, an off-duty detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, was driving northbound on the Highway at about 5:00 p.m. on his way home to the Antelope Valley when he was startled by the sight of a red semi-trailer truck. Kimrey was taken aback because in the eight years he had traveled on the Highway he had never seen a truck so large use the Highway. A lot of white-gray smoke was "billowing" out from the tires. The driver was a male Hispanic with a medium to dark complexion.

At about the same time, firefighters Raul Corona and Kristen Brownlee had finished their shifts at the Clear Creek Ranger's Station and were carpooling south on the Highway when Corona noticed a strong smell of brakes overheating. He saw a dark red semi-trailer truck with a thick cloud of white smoke coming from the driver's side rear tires, about 10 feet from the truck's cabin. Corona said the driver of the truck should have seen the smoke in his mirrors because it was coming from both sides of the truck and it was very obvious. Corona wondered why the driver was ignoring the smoking brakes and why he had not used the turnouts that were obviously available to him to stop his truck when his brakes still appeared to be working.

Corona and Brownlee continued to follow the truck even though it was going faster. At about 5:30 p.m., the truck passed the golf course at La Cañada-Flintridge Country Club. It moved into the middle of the two lanes as smoke poured out of its brakes. The brakes started smoking even more as the truck went around the last turn before the straight downhill descent into La Cañada. The truck started gaining speed, now appearing as if it had lost its brakes completely. It continued to gain speed all the way down the hill, traveling about 60 miles per hour in an area limited to 45 miles per hour.

As the truck neared the traffic on Foothill Boulevard, there was no indication the driver used the truck's horn or Jake Brake system.[ 2 ] The truck ran through the red lights on Foothill Boulevard and collided into vehicles in the middle of the street as well as vehicles stopped at red lights before crashing into a bookstore and nail salon.

Seven vehicles were involved in the crash. Angel Posca and his 12-year-old daughter Angelina Posca were in their small red Ford directly in the path of the speeding truck. The truck hit the red Ford at an excess of 53 miles per hour and dragged it 150 feet. Angel and Angelina were killed instantly. A number of persons in other vehicles were injured, as well as two women who were in the nail salon. Costa was identified as the driver of the truck. He was not under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.

Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff James Peterson, an expert in conducting commercial vehicle inspections, testified that commercial drivers and co-drivers are required by federal law to complete a daily "pre-trip inspection" on their vehicle before operating it on the road. The inspection includes visually checking the brakes to make sure they are functioning properly, and physically measuring the push rod travel for the brake chambers to ensure they are within federal guidelines for safety.

Deputy Peterson inspected Costa's truck after the collision and determined that five of the 10 brakes were completely inoperable or out of adjustment prior to the collision. The five brakes that were working showed signs of overheating and cracking on the pads. This brake problem would have been readily apparent during a pre-trip inspection and would have required that the truck be placed out of service.

According to Deputy Peterson, Costa compounded the problem by taking his heavy truck on the Highway's steep, windy, two-lane, mountainous road when only 50 percent of its brakes were working. Because half of the brakes were not working, the functioning brakes overheated as the truck was going down the hill, ultimately causing brake failure. Deputy Peterson said that if all of the brakes had been working properly, Costa would have been able to stop the truck to avoid the collision.

Deputy Peterson further indicated that when brakes start smoking it means the brake linings are catching fire and it is the beginning of brake failure. A commercial driver with a Class A license is required to check his mirrors to make sure his load is secure and he is not creating a traffic jam behind him. While checking his mirrors he would have been able to see if his brakes were smoking. Once brakes start smoking, the driver must pull the truck over and wait between two and eight hours for the brakes to cool off.

lilbitmo wrote:If I were looking at the "law books" you just described "negligent homicide"

latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trucker7-2010apr07,0,6659360.story

Murder charges reinstated in fatal crash
An appellate panel rules in the case of a trucker whose brakes failed on the steep Angeles Crest Highway, leading to the deaths of a man and his daughter in La Cañada Flintridge.

By Richard Winton
April 7, 2010

A state appeals court panel Tuesday ordered two murder charges reinstated against a trucker whose out-of-control big rig killed a Palmdale man and his 12-year-old daughter last year in La Cañada Flintridge.

The three-justice panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned L.A. County Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench's ruling dismissing second-degree murder counts against Marcos Barbosa Costa. The panel found that Lench erred in her decision to grant a motion by Costa's attorney to dismiss the charges.

Costa was driving a car hauler April 1, 2009, when his brakes failed on the steep Angeles Crest Highway descent into La Cañada Flintridge. The big rig hit a small red Ford, killing Angel Posca and his daughter Angelina instantly, then collided with several other vehicles before smashing into a bookstore and a nail salon.

Despite being warned about "the condition of his brakes, the nature of the steep, winding road ahead, and the fact many drivers would be on the road at the time, Costa decided to drive his 25-ton, 18-wheel truck into La Cañada. His brakes continued to put out more and more streams of smoke, yet he decided to drive past two turnouts while the brakes were barely working, ultimately driving onto Foothill Boulevard and killing Angel and his daughter," wrote Presiding Justice Tricia A. Bigelow on behalf of the panel.

Costa, 44, of Everett, Mass., was indicted last June on multiple counts, including two of second- degree murder. But in October, Lench dismissed the murder charges at the defense's request. She agreed there was insufficient evidence to show that Costa intended to kill the victims. Prosecutors appealed.

In her ruling, Bigelow said there was sufficient evidence "for assuming the possibility that Costa decided to continue to drive his truck down Angeles Crest Highway with an actual awareness of the great risk of harm his actions created, resulting in the deaths of two people."

simonov wrote:Time for a roadtrip!

TacoDelRio wrote:

simonov wrote:Time for a roadtrip!

Yay, a road trip of epic body-roll proportions!