Judge lowers bail for big-rig driver charged in deadly accident

A judge on Friday cut bail nearly in half for a trucker indicted in connection with a multi-vehicle wreck on Angeles Crest Highway that killed a 12-year-old Palmdale girl and her father.

[TheGreatestTitsI nTheWorld]

uh huh

[absolutely]

This was an accident, not a crime. His brakes failed for pete's sake. It was a tragic a.c.c.i.d.e.n.t. They happen.

[hollywoodsaint]

the guy wasnt a gangbanger, a drunk driver, running from the law, etc, etc. the brakes went out on the rig. it is a tragedy for sure but the guy was just trying to earn an honest living. unforseen circumstances befalls us all. it is also a safe bet to assume that the truck driver feels awful about the accident. he has to live the rest of his life knowing he destroyed peoples lives. how is it the district attorney is treating this as a crime? my condolences to the family and i pray for the deceased but this was no crime. thats why they're called accidents. im positive it was unintentional because no person in their right mind wants death that they caused on their conscience. no matter if you lock him away forever or release him tomorrow.....that will not bring the deceased back. there is only acceptance of the situation and im not being incensitive but all parties have to move on because life goes on...my thoughts and prayers are with the families

[Mommyof4]

When I first started to read this I assumed he must of been DUI of some sort. However nothing mentions why they are charging him with murder. If his breaks failed him then it seems this was a tragic accident. My husband is a truck driver and does a great job at driving safely. It is a very scary thought that if his truck were to somehow malfunction and cause an accident then he could be charged with murder. Are only truckers fair game or are we all risking murder charges should our vehicles lose breaks or blow a tire causing an a fatal accident?

[George W Bush]

if he had raped the child the judge would let him go like they do..but because his brakes gave out this is some horrific crime ..this place sucks

[surfchickmb]

Someone has to be accountable for this tragedy...God Bless the families.

[surfchickmb]

absolutely wrote:

This was an accident, not a crime. His brakes failed for pete's sake. It was a tragic a.c.c.i.d.e.n.t. They happen.

I doubt that you would write that if it was your family!!! Moron!

[brian]

Every truck driver knows you can go down a hill to slow a 1000 times, but you only go down to fast once! if he would have gone down that hill in a low gear (2nd or at the most 3rd gear)he went down in 5th gear and burned his brakes out! that my friends is not an accident!
READ THE POLICE REPORT and then tell me it was an accident.

[ABB]

I bet $10,000 that westvalleydave will get on this board and spew his anti hispanic rhetoric. If he has not yet, give him time.$10,000 any takers on this sure bet?! ;)

[Former Long Haul Trucker]

brian wrote:

Every truck driver knows you can go down a hill to slow a 1000 times, but you only go down to fast once! if he would have gone down that hill in a low gear (2nd or at the most 3rd gear)he went down in 5th gear and burned his brakes out! that my friends is not an accident!
READ THE POLICE REPORT and then tell me it was an accident.

This is a terrible tragedy period!! As a former cross country truck driver, I know what it's like to go down a hill will a full load and think you're about to lose your brakes. As stated in the previous quote, if you're not going down in a low gear with your engine retarder on then that's on the driver. I have not read the police report, however, if it does state that the driver was in a higher gear going fast and "riding" his brakes, he should have known that there's a chance of them going out. I am not one to judge if this is negligence or a malfunction. The fact is that two people lost their lives. God Bless!

[westvalleydave]

OH YA, He was hispanic wasnt he,probably a wet back

[Dave]

So many people do not know that the driver is responsible for his actions or lack of them, He is to inspect his brakes before the begining of any trip. He is to check his brakes before any downhill grade. Its the law. He is a professional driver and held to a higher standard. Like a pilot or Captain of a ship. The commercial truck driver is behing the wheel of a vehicle when fully loaded weighs 40,000 lbs. Some drivers forget that it takes a truck 3 football fields to stop at 55mph, They have a speed limit on trucks going down hill. And they a trained to put it a low gear before the the down grade. I blame the driver 100%. and it is murder!

[Brian]

Hopefully he doesn't bail out and return to Brazil. Brazil does not extrodite any of it's citizens. Im curious as to the reason he was on hwy 2 in the first place. I am a truck driver from Lanaster CA and I would NEVER take a truck up there. My imediate thought was that he was most likely south bound on I-15, and exited on hwy 138, taking that to the 2. You can avoid the weigh station on I-15 that is located just south of the 138. Often truck drivers avoid weigh stations because they are not in compliance with fmca regs.

[Brian]

absolutely wrote:

This was an accident, not a crime. His brakes failed for pete's sake. It was a tragic a.c.c.i.d.e.n.t. They happen.

His brakes overheated because he was not following procedure coming down the hill. This is the truck drivers fault not a mechanial failure. Im a driver, our trucks have 2 kinds of brakes, engine brakes, and air brakes at the wheels. An engine brake works by holding the exhaust valves open so the engine slows it self down because there is no compression. If you have to use your service air brakes more than 2 times a min coming down a hill you are traveling too fast and need to use a lower gear. This needs to happen before the brakes are hot at the top of the hill. If the service brakes are faded you will not be able to reduce your speed to get into a lower gear. Sometimes engine brakes fail and this will dramaticly reduce the speed at which you will need to reach to maintain the 2 times a min limit on service brakes. I lost my engine brakes on the grape vive hill and ended up at 9 mph in 3rd gear. Very annoying to other drivers behind me but nobody died. This is 100% his fault and he should be held acountable for his careless actions.

[Kevin]

This is our justice system at its best! What are they waiting on to prosecute the negligent parties involved. Everyone is guilty except the two innocent people killed due to the states ignorance in allowing multi axle vehicles on this highway, as a shortcut of people that get paid by the mile!

[John Schmidermuckerho w]

This was not an accident. The story is poorly written. Did he use American made brakes? If he never had his brakes checked then yes it is no different then 1st degree murder. They should throw the book at him. It is sick that so many blame avoidable tragedies as just accidents. Tell the victims it was just an accident. If he could have avoided the accident i think he should not get anything less than the death penalty.

[Deport Them All]

ABB wrote:

I bet $10,000 that westvalleydave will get on this board and spew his anti hispanic rhetoric. If he has not yet, give him time.$10,000 any takers on this sure bet?! ;)

You'll never in your life have $10,000 so how would anyone collect when you lost?
It's easy to shoot off your mouth when you don't have to front up the money.
Don't you have some graffiti to scribble somewhere tonight now that it's dark? I've been waiting for you every night so what's taking you so long to find my wall?

[Dave]

Brian wrote:

<quoted text>
His brakes overheated because he was not following procedure coming down the hill. This is the truck drivers fault not a mechanial failure. Im a driver, our trucks have 2 kinds of brakes, engine brakes, and air brakes at the wheels. An engine brake works by holding the exhaust valves open so the engine slows it self down because there is no compression. If you have to use your service air brakes more than 2 times a min coming down a hill you are traveling too fast and need to use a lower gear. This needs to happen before the brakes are hot at the top of the hill. If the service brakes are faded you will not be able to reduce your speed to get into a lower gear. Sometimes engine brakes fail and this will dramaticly reduce the speed at which you will need to reach to maintain the 2 times a min limit on service brakes. I lost my engine brakes on the grape vive hill and ended up at 9 mph in 3rd gear. Very annoying to other drivers behind me but nobody died. This is 100% his fault and he should be held acountable for his careless actions.

I totally agree about the avoiding the weigh station. He was probably over his 11 hour. The DA probably has his drivers log. That should be in evidence. The CHP has probably done thorough inspection of the truck. Thats probably why they are appealing the ruling.

[American Pride]

Brian wrote:

<quoted text>
His brakes overheated because he was not following procedure coming down the hill. This is the truck drivers fault not a mechanial failure. Im a driver, our trucks have 2 kinds of brakes, engine brakes, and air brakes at the wheels. An engine brake works by holding the exhaust valves open so the engine slows it self down because there is no compression. If you have to use your service air brakes more than 2 times a min coming down a hill you are traveling too fast and need to use a lower gear. This needs to happen before the brakes are hot at the top of the hill. If the service brakes are faded you will not be able to reduce your speed to get into a lower gear. Sometimes engine brakes fail and this will dramaticly reduce the speed at which you will need to reach to maintain the 2 times a min limit on service brakes. I lost my engine brakes on the grape vive hill and ended up at 9 mph in 3rd gear. Very annoying to other drivers behind me but nobody died. This is 100% his fault and he should be held acountable for his careless actions.

if your going to try and educate people make sure your story is straight! But I see your a "truck driver" hahaha so your excused for not being so smart....
Your quote::An engine brake works by holding the exhaust valves open so the engine slows it self down because there is no compression...WRONG! The Valves stay closed as in exhaust brake...if they were open you would a intake brake with the air going thru the motor and no engine retarder.

[wave]

borderline accident.. It was surely not intentional, however... person is still responsible for their vehicle, and route they choose, etc.