The California Highway Patrol reported 77,739 violations last year against semi-trailers at 16 inspection facilities. A truck inspection facility on Interstate 10 in San Gorgonio Pass in Banning caught the most attention for finding semi-trailers which broke safety violations in California. One in three vehicles were not allowed back onto the road due to safety errors after inspections by the station. The reputation of the station for catching unsafe trucks is so severe, many truck drivers wear a shirt that states “I survived the Banning scales.” The second-highest number of trucks found to have problems is in Calexico.
Dangers found among the trucks include a 150-pound wheel dangerously hanging to the axle by one lug nut. In another case, an unconnected air brake line was found hanging behind a trailer, which meant the 80,000 pound truck had a trailer without any breaks while barreling down the freeway. Commonly reported problems were broken brake drums and cracked wheel rims. California Highway Patrol revealed 16,946 safety violations from January-September of 2010 alone, reports this article. The inspectors told their families not to drive near the semi-trailers, knowing their high potential for danger.
As a Los Angeles personal injury attorney, I agree that big-rig safety is incredibly important for maintaining safe driving conditions. I am glad these statistics were released by the CHP, who are doing their best to bust the unsafe semi-trailers.
