Rig Crushes House, Kills Residents

Tragic story.

Not to be nit-picky, but it's brake, or brakes, not breaks.

"The truck, owned and operated by 61-year-old Joaquin Garcia of Oxnard, was experiencing brake problems before getting on the 154" ------ that is just criminal.

The 154 is a dangerous road at the best of times, but if there is the least suspicion of a problem with a huge truck with a heavy load, it should have been taken to a shop ---- or at least driven on the 101.

Ditto, with the spelling mistake. The truck has brakes.

"experiencing brake problems before getting on the 154"

When in doubt... Sad tragedy for sure -henry

Isn't there is a 'runaway truck' area just before Foothill which is a gravel bed to stop this exact situation?

this is a true tragedy, i agree with Tabatha, this is criminal indeed. he had brake problems but decided to go on the 154 anyway? what a moron!!!

This is heartbreaking... I hope that the other missing child wasn't home and is found to be okay... not that they would be okay with such a tremendous loss. I do not understand how someone who knew they were having brake problems could still decide to drive down that road!

I hope that the family was alseep and had no idea what happened :(

As a commercial driver I think it's the drivers fault. If inspecting the vehicle the driver finds a serious problem like a brake issue, thats a downable situation. Only a mechanic can make the decision that the truck is OK to drive down San Marcos pass.
Sorry but he's responsible.

Wow, what an incredible tragedy. While the driver said he tried everything possible, I sure would have liked to see him try and hit a tree, the side of the hill (while still on 154), run off into the dirt area before the 154 hits Calle Real or simply intentionally jackknife the truck right in the middle of the road before or going right through the parking lot and into a house. I mean, really, how in the world did he end up driving it right into a house when it seems he had a whole lot more options before he ever got to that point?

"Zapien identified the family living in the house as Leo Leon, 23; his wife Lorena, 27; and their 7-year-old son. Zapien did not name the son. The family had moved to the U.S. from Oaxaca, Mexico, about five years ago, he said."

Extremely sad, my sincere condolences to their loved ones and friends.

What's the point of leaving out the above information in the story? They know who's house it is.

Perhaps the rest of the family was not notified yet? In which case, I can understand the reason for leaving this out. It's not appropriate to add if the information was given by Zapien for reasons other than publication.

I turned right from Calle Real onto 154 and onto the 101 onramp just seconds before this happened...
too freaky.
I'm sick w/sadness for the loss of that family and the driver's future of despair over this horrible tragedy.

RIP to the family. I feel sorry for the truck driver, because the price is going to be steep for skipping this brake job.

God bless those who have passed from us. I hope they said a happy and loving good night, and that this took them without waking.

God bless the driver and his family, let this not ruin him and them. Return him to the love of his family, strong and resolved to turn out something positive from this tragedy.

God bless our Caltrans folks and lawmakers, who may draw good lessons from all this and pass good laws and regulations to prevent more awful tragedies like this.

There certainly IS a runaway truck ramp just up from Foothill. That is exactly what that gravel incline is, a "runaway truck ramp".

Sorry, but the driver of this truck could have avoided this tragic situation in any number of ways... not the least of which was ensuring he had a safe truck to drive over a mountain pass!

If this guy walks away from this without criminal charges, there is no justice.

If you check out keyt.com it shows what a bad driving record this guy has and how he has been charged with brake violations in the past, speeding tickets, too heavy of loads, etc. He should NOT have been driving a truck from what the list shows which makes his actions yesterday all the more criminal/negligence, as opposed to just a freak accident. So sad for the surviving son, I hope he has an enormous support system because I don't know how the mind can cope with a loss like that... and then to come home and see the aftermath, knowing all you had was lost :( Breaks my heart for that boy

Sorry - another editing error: "lying on its side" not "laying".

Should those who hire such trucks (and drivers) have responsibility to make sure the driver does not have the safety violations this one has? And also responsibility that the truck with 54,000 pounds of gravel does NOT travel on 154, which seems to have no weight limit, but which does have a recommendation for a max. kingpin to rear axle limit of 30'.

On the news last nite they said a view into this drivers record going back to 2001 shows 17 violations, that's ~2/yr.
Those violations were in Ventura County alone, there may be more throughout the state.
A bulk of those were for speeding, some of those were for improper operation issues (mechanical problems) & 1 was for not having a valid operator's license in possession.
I'm sure many commercial truckers feel there's a ton of scrutiny by CHP against them, but what you're dealing w/ here is a misslie w/ wheels & after something liike this the scrutiny will probably be more.
My thoughts & prayers go to the family of the deceased as well as the truck driver because he's going to have to live w/ this for the rest of his days on Earth.
-henry

Tragic story. Unconscionable that an operator of such a large and heavy vehicle did not shut it down BEFORE attempting to negotiate a dangerous route under the best conditions.

Solution simple going forward, and one I've been a proponent of for about 20 years:

NO MORE BIG RIG TRUCKS ON 154!

Period. Make them ALL use the 101 and stop them killing folks, clogging up the route both ways, and generally making the valley a noise and fume polluted shortcut. (It saves what---10-minutes?)

Unless they are making a local delivery, which can be gotten to from the 101 onto the 154, they are forever BANNED from the San Marcos Pass. Period.

Okay---where are all those "defenders of the beauty of the bridge?" You've been languishing in the doldrums of a dry deck, now you're up. Try mattering here and move the runners.

That area near the bottom of the Pass that looks like a runaway truck ramp is just an area where Caltrans dumps loads of earth and rocks when they clear slides from 154. It's not actually a ramp. (They used some of the fill stored there in the reconfiguration of Sheffield Reservoir a few years ago.)

My advice would be to keep heavy loads off 154 except for local deliveries. It's not a road for big rigs, they mostly use it because it's a shortcut, not out of necessity. The risk is just too high.

Trucks should be able to go up the pass but never down. Its just common sense.

I'm so sad for that little family and the surviving family who mourn their loss. I wish them all comfort and peace.

If that driver knew his brakes had issues, he's a criminal. Yet I feel sad for him too. I'm sure he didn't start out his journey with the intent to harm. Grave negligence on his part has allowed this tragedy.

BAN ALL BIG RIGS ON 154!

I was a "big rig" driver and if we didn't need to go on the 154-we didn't! Anybody who takes that route as a shortcut KNOWINGLY, should be penalized. This truck was trying to save itself a few miles, after all the contractors are only going to pay what they have to. These loads do pay a little extra, because of the time and extra wear and tear on the truck from travelling this type of terrain, so all brake or tire matters should have been taken care of. Again, they only pay a little extra, so any unnecessary miles cut into your profit. On the same token so do accidents, and any trucks not ready for the road should not be taking on these type of trips. It is probably a good thing that the contractor requires up to $1million insurance, but if the insurance can find a reason not pay they won't. For example, mechanical failure, which includes brakes, and too heavy of a load. So for all of you rooting for this guy to fail, your dream might come true. He just killed two people, lost his truck, CHP will probably rule it as his fault, and the insurance will probably not pick up none of the tab.

Another point is that due to their weight these trucks go very slow going uphill which holds up traffic.

Sometimes vehicles are stuck for several minutes in the 55 zone while these trucks are going 30.

They should have the common consideration of taking the 101 so that when they go up hills there is at least one other lane where people can pass them. Also, as Hank point out, there is a history of violations with this guy so a big lawsuit is probably on the way and maybe if these companies start getting sued for allowing their drivers to drive recklessly, they will get the message to crack down on that behavior since the very profits they put over safety will dry up for their disregard of it.

@ robert who quotes wiki? That's like quoting a 5 year old. Not reliable. Should have pulled some thing for the CHP or CalTrans

Bill- These companies eliminate their liability by hiring owner/operators instead of company drivers.

Well Robert... you certainly have not been traversing the 154 as long as some of the rest of us then.

There certainly was a runaway truck ramp there, and it actually did have signage. Many years ago, I was puzzled that the signage had disappeared, but it certainly was a gravel runaway truck ramp.

And it was nowhere near Cathedral Oaks, it was up further from the Salvar road bridge.

Caltrans subsequently did all sorts of things in that area while completing other projects further up the pass and it became something quite different than what it once was.

Instead of belligerently quoting Wackypedia and telling the rest of us that have lived here for generations that we don't know what we are talking about, perhaps you might consider that we might possibly have more information than you.

So we all agree there is no runaway ramp there. Will one be provided?

Where did I attempt to put words in your mouth?

This is ridiculous.

Nowhere have I ever seen an interactive argumentative newspaper quite like this before...

"Nowhere have I ever seen an interactive argumentative newspaper quite like this before... "

I like it it's the essence of free speech. I'd rather have an editor or webmaster criticizing me in a blog than having them censoring my ideas.

Open forums= a bigger field of suggestions, which mean solutions are more likely.

Check out this article from the Santa Ynez Valley News. It says witnesses say the trucker saves lives. I'm not here to say whose right or wrong, but to offer another unheard side to the story.

http://www.syvnews.com/articles/2010/...

I knew the Lorena, the wife and mother who was killed. She was very kind hearted and an excellent cook. I'll miss her for the rest of my life. I feel especially bad for her little boy whom she obviously loved very much. There's no explanation for the bad luck this nice young family experienced. They deserved a long happy life, not this.

@robert sucks for you having to drive the 154 everyday. I grew up in the SYV And have lived in SB now for 15yrs. I too am very familiar with the road