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CHP says speeding truck with bad brakes caused I-5 tunnel crash

LOS ANGELES  — A truck driver speeding on a rain-slicked interstate in 2007 lost control and crashed into a median barrier, setting off chain-reaction collisions that turned a tunnel into an inferno and left three dead, investigators concluded Friday.

A report by the California Highway Patrol provides the most detailed picture yet of what led to a fiery tangle of more than two dozen vehicles on Interstate 5 — the major West Coast route between Mexico and Canada. The collisions closed the busy highway for two days and cost $17 million to clean up and repair.

The report concluded that the double-trailer truck with a faulty brake was traveling more than 65 mph when it jackknifed shortly after passing through a curving, dimly lighted bypass tunnel on Oct. 12, 2007. Despite the bad brake, the report said the accident was caused primarily by the truck's excessive speed on a rainy night as it descended the mountain pass on the edge of Los Angeles.

The driver, Jose Reyes, survived.

The report said the stormy weather also contributed to the crash. Several vehicles behind Reyes' truck managed to stop safely, but as others approached a succession of collisions took place that left wreckage over a half mile. Thirty-three trucks and a car were involved, and 26 were destroyed by fire.

Saia Inc., which owned Reyes' truck, said in a statement that the report "failed to give appropriate consideration to a number of critically important factors," including what it called a poorly designed and maintained tunnel.

"The report fails to give adequate weight to the fact that at least 13 drivers in the tunnel were speeding and failing to maintain legally required following distances, or to the fact that four of those drivers were operating in violation of hours of service regulations," said the statement by company spokeswoman Sally Buchholz

"The Saia truck did not come into contact with any other vehicles, either before, during or after its single-vehicle accident," she said.

CHP Officer Miguel Luevano said the agency had no comment on the report.

An Associated Press investigation last year found that more than a decade before the deadly pileup, authorities warned that the stretch of freeway was dangerous and that steps should be taken to improve safety. Highway officials cut grooves into the pavement to improve traction, but a state police request to routinely close the road in stormy weather was rejected and the state later raised the speed limit in the tunnel from 45 mph to 55 mph, AP found.

Officials at the state Transportation Department did not immediately return phone calls or e-mails Friday. Most state offices were shut down Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to ease a budget crisis. State officials have previously defended the safety of the stretch of highway.

The pileup sent motorists running for their lives from the 1,400-degree fire. Among the three victims was a 6-year-old boy, Isaiah Matthew Rodriguez, who was riding in his father's truck.

The report echoed preliminary findings released last year.

Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against Reyes, but the report's findings could figure in legal claims that have been filed relating to the accident.

The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at [email protected].