Posted on 04/30/2007 7:36:03 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
The driver who crashed a tanker loaded with gasoline and brought down a heavily trafficked highway overpass was given a commercial trucker's license despite a history of criminal convictions, including drug and burglary arrests.
James Mosqueda, 51, of Woodland also got a special hazardous materials endorsement last year from the federal Transportation Security Administration. To get it, he had to undergo an FBI criminal history check and an intelligence background check.
"It's reprehensible," said Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, who chairs both the Assembly Transportation Committee and the Joint Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security. "Someone with that record has no business driving hazardous materials on our highways."
The elevated section of highway that funnels traffic from the Bay Bridge to a number of key freeways was destroyed early Sunday after flames from James Mosqueda's overturned gasoline truck caused part of that overpass to buckle and collapse onto a roadway below.
Although a predicted traffic nightmare failed to materialize Monday as workers heeded the dire warnings and stayed home, or seized on free public transportation, transit officials cautioned it will be months before things return to normal for Bay Area commuters.
Authorities said drugs and alcohol were not factors in the crash, and that Mosqueda may have lost control because he was speeding from a refinery in Benicia to a gas station near the Oakland airport.
He served two years and eight months in prison following a 1996 arrest for heroin possession in Sacramento County, court records show. His criminal rap sheet stretching back to 1981 also includes arrests for burglary, felony drug charges and possession of stolen property, according to the California Department of Corrections and the Sacramento County District Attorney's office.
His brother, Ruben Mosqueda, 44, an artist living in San Francisco, said his brother has been sober for more than a decade and now works as a drug and alcohol counselor with a Hispanic health organization.
"All that happened over 10 years ago," Ruben Mosqueda said of his brother's criminal record. "A lot has changed."
Still, in light of Mosqueda's numerous convictions, the Transportation Security Administration said late Monday it would review whether he should have been cleared to drive a gasoline tanker.
"Under TSA HazMat rules, individuals who have been convicted of certain felonies will not be able to hold a hazardous materials endorsement," said TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley. "In this case, we are going to further investigate this case and look into the individual details."
TSA rules require those convicted of a drug offense to wait seven years before qualifying for the HazMat endorsement. There is also a five-year waiting period after a convict is released from prison. Since Mosqueda was released in 2001, he became eligible in 2006.
There is also nothing that prevents a convicted felon who has served his sentence from getting his commercial truck driver's license in California - so long as he has a clear driving record, CHP Chief Steve Vaughn said.
Still, officials quickly called for a review of rules that allow a person with a criminal background to drive a truck carrying more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline through a densely populated area.
"We should look into the policy that would give a driver with a checkered past like this the ability to drive such a hazardous vehicle," said Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Investigators examined evidence at the accident scene Monday to determine what caused the collision and whether Mosqueda was at fault. None one died and he was the only person injured. He walked away from the scene and hailed a cab and remained hospitalized Monday with second-degree burns.
His mother, Alicia Mosqueda, said it was an accident, and he shouldn't be blamed for it.
"It was a real miracle that he was able to walk out alive," she said in a telephone interview. "God knows he had no fault in this. He was just doing his work."
Crews also began hauling away charred debris and engineers prepared for reconstruction, which could take two to three months. Inspectors X-rayed about a dozen pillars supporting the ramp near the collapsed section to see if they could be salvaged, California Department of Transportation spokesman Jeff Weiss said.
He cautioned that a scarcity of steel resulting from a building boom, in China and India could slow reconstruction.
"We can't get steel like we used to," Weiss said.
The damaged roads, vital arteries linking San Francisco to its eastern suburbs, carry some 80,000 vehicles a day. Originally built in the 1950s, the collapsed road was retrofitted in the late 1990s to withstand earthquake damage.
Rather than rebuild the ramp to existing blueprints, engineers would likely overhaul the interchange to conform to today's more stringent seismic standards, Weiss said.
Emergency response officials were also doing their own analysis for lessons they can apply to the region's inevitable next earthquake, or a terrorist attack.
"It's almost your perfect tabletop exercise - real pristine, clean, and nobody got hurt," CHP Officer Mike Wright said.
Newsom said city officials were also looking at the tanker crash for clues for how to shore up their emergency response plan.
"Every time we go through this, it's beneficial because we're able to see the gaps," he said. "This is not a dress rehearsal, it's serious, but we didn't lose any lives."
Applying lessons from past earthquakes could also be key to a quick recovery.
After the 1989 Loma Prieta quake collapsed a section of the Bay Bridge's upper span, crews were able to complete the repairs in just one month. The Santa Monica Freeway was reopened in 66 days, well ahead of schedule, after it was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Those projects were sped along by incentive clauses that reward contractors for getting the job done ahead of time and fine them for delays.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's emergency declaration authorized free transit on the Bay Area Rapid Transit rail system, ferries and buses. Many apparently took advantage: Parking lots at outlying BART stations like El Cerrito and Pittsburg-Baypoint filled up earlier than usual as commuters tried to beat the rush they imagined was coming. Others took the day off or telecommuted.
"I'm mad," said Crystal McSwain, who has a commuter pass for the trans-bay bus, but was taking BART - a more expensive option. "My life is upside down, and I don't know how long it's going to take."
Another totally useless government agency.
Heh -- I live 12 miles north of Hazleton and think Mayor Lou Barletta is -- Da Man! I am very much against illegal immigration. But I don't think Mexicans are inherently unable to maintain or drive trucks safely. I also believe our LEOs are just as capable of enforcing safety regulations against brown skinned people as those with more or less melanin.
I also gave up reading WorldNut Daily sometime in 2001.
Confidential to FEMA and first responders: Add this to all emergency plans ... gasoline fires DO cause steel support beams to fail. Next time, don’t let it burn.
Well this makes a good headline, but does his past behavior have any relationship to the accident?
You could argue that with the risk posed by driving these materials, that no amount of time is enough after criminal activity.
One thing is for certain, lawyers will get even wealthier with this case.
And truckers insurance premiums higher or less available.
So true. It bears repeating.
when we could welsh on contracts
I take umbrage at your remark. It should be ‘welch’ not ‘welsh’. I am the latter, not the former. Thank you. (Insert Smilie).
My grandad died in a tanker crash.
Shit happens
Yup, You’re right. That’s the trouble with transliterasions.
I took a shot at the Arabic -——
I don’t think it’s really safe for one of these trucks to go over 60 mph in any circumstances. The maximum safe speed for these vehicles is a good deal less than the maximum safe speed for many other vehicles. Not only are they filled with explosive material that makes a crash a lot more dangerous than crashes involving other kinds of heavy cargo trucks, but the tremendous weight of the liquid fuel makes for a long braking distance.
I was about 1/2 mile away from the White Plains, NY propane tanker crash in 1994. The driver apparently fell asleep and hit the concrete support of an overpass. The exploding tank turned into a missile, flew 300 feet (in my direction), landing on a house full of sleeping people on a residential street. It sounded like a huge bomb had exploded, to people at least a mile from the explosion site. Several houses were burned down, and 23 people injured, included a 30 weeks-pregnant woman who was severely burned (as was her husband), and whose baby had to be delivered by emergency C-section and reportedly suffered some brain damage as a result of the trauma to the mother and/or the premature birth. Many of the residents of the block have experienced lasting psychological problems (post-traumatic stress disorder). There’s no way a truck loaded with groceries or building products can have this kind of effect, but fuel tankers are in a category of their own.
Make a policy that drivers who go faster than that without a darned good reason are subject to being fired.
Ironic that such a person wouldn't be allowed to have a single-shot .22 rifle but is allowed something far more dangerous.
As a Bay Area driver, I hope they go after the company. However, everytime something happens we get it in the shorts. I can see an increase in the gas tax, sales tax etc. The Bay Bridge project has cost enough now this on ramp. I just see $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ signs in my mind. and the poster that said wait for the Trucks coming from Mexico who’s laws are not like ours I can only vision it.
Its ridiculous the way the group think reacts.
It was a lamentable accident
We dont need new steeking laws
“Can’t get steel like we used to?” Well, folks, take it out of our country, break the back of the industry in America and what do we expect? China could care less if they sell us their steel. Cheez. Don’t we EVER learn?????
President Bush ordered the bridge wired with explosives as soon as Nancy Pelosi became Speaker, and ex-Mayor of Oakland Jerry Brown became AG of California. Caltrans and the CHP know for a fact there was no truck anywhere near the scene. And the actor playing the truck driver is a SAG member who begged Billy Bush to star in Cousin George’s next blockbuster, in order to control the world. Even Arnold could not resist a minor role, since they got the idea from Arnold’s movie “True Lies”. As we speak, Cheney is in a bunker preparing to unleash his next attack on global warming, operation Mount Shasta.
Only 36 posts before somebody states the obvious.
LOL My first thought living in the Bay Area and hearing it on the morning news was this.
Will that must blow Rosie O’s and all the weirdo’s thought of what happen on 911 right out of the water.
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