Officials, personal injury lawyers in La Canada, and residents are angry one day after the big rig lost control going through the intersection of La Canada Flintridge, crashing through two buildings, injuring 12 and killing 2.
The car hauler that was taking a well used short cut on the mountain Angeles Forest Highway to the Los Angeles Basin having peaks of almost 8,000 feet. The driver passed a sign according to officials that prohibits tractor-trailers the weight of the double-decker car hauler.
The out of state driver and co driver reaching the vicinity where the accident occurred had failing breaks from the twisting mountain highway. This caused the truck to pick up speed on the final straight away where the driver struck a vehicle dragging it over the 210 Freeway southbound into the crowded intersection. This is where the big rig struck five more vehicles, the Flintridge Bookstore and a nail salon. In the aftermath a father and daughter were killed and twelve other people were injured, with four being critically injured.
During the investigation while the events were being figured out by investigators, residents and officials are angry and feel the tragedy should never have occurred. It also brings to the forefront the lack of efforts by the government to enforce truck safety on the twisting mountain highway north of Los Angeles.
In the past the final decent to La Canada had a runaway for trucks in case of emergencies like the one that occurred. Caltrans made the decision approximately a decade ago that tractor-trailer safety had improved, closing the runaway and landscaping the area.
Los Angeles big rig truck accident attorneys have been warning about these types of accidents for a long time as well. In fact, the the director of Caltrans District 7, Doug Failing has stated since the accident they are considering reopening the truck runaway lane and employing other safety measures. They also plan to install warning signs, but stated that the road is safe for the dangerous large trucks if they are driven properly.
The elected officials in the city want a complete ban on tractor-trailers using the mountain pass as a short cut on their way to Los Angeles Basin. According to Mayor Laura Olhasso in a news conference there is no need for a study or bureaucratic nonsense, instead the people in the city of La Canada Flintridge need to be protected. The mayor went on to state that Caltrans should immediately close the highway to these large trucks.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich a representative of the area stated big rigs do not belong on the Angeles Crest Highway. He went on to say that the tractor-trailer had become a lethal weapon.
City officials had requested several weeks ago that the state forbid big rigs from using the highway route as a shortcut after an accident seven months ago involving one of these large trucks. The tractor-trailer that was hauling 78,000 pounds of onions lost its brakes and struck cars in a parking lot near the intersection.
The tractor-trailer driver has been identified as Marco Barbosa Costa age 43 of Massachusetts. Barbosa was arrested on suspicion of gross negligent vehicular manslaughter.
Investigators are still looking into why Costa was on the mountain highway instead of taking the 5 or 14 Freeways and are not sure if he was using a GPS system or maps. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Slater stated that the mountain incline will cause the breaks to be used more regularly and the breaks in the tractor-trailer are still under investigation as to the reason they failed.
The former mayor of La Canada Flintridge and now Assemblyman has called on the California Highway Patrol to increase patrols and checkpoints on the Angeles Crest Highway that Costa took.
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