BIG-RIG SAFETY PLAN COMING FROM CHP.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Big-rig crashes cause some of the worst freeway tie-ups - including a seven-hour jam Wednesday morning - prompting the CHP to launch a $900,000 program to ticket truckers and other motorists whose bad habits can cause crashes.

Truck collisions, which made up 9.1 percent of the traffic fatalities statewide last year, killed 73 people in Los Angeles County alone, according to provisional estimates released by the California Highway Patrol.

``Truck collisions impact the general public more than a passenger (car) collision,'' said CHP spokesman Officer Ron Burch. ``(There's) greater chance for fatalities, longer to clean up. It creates greater burden on traffic.''

To help prevent crashes, the CHP plans to use a $917,000 state grant to give officers updated training and overtime hours to start targeting motorists who cut in front of big rigs, as well as truckers who violate license, load and other regulations.

A representative with the Auto Club of Southern California said the organization welcomes any steps the CHP can take to help make roads safer, but that, with increasing numbers of trucks on the road, motorists, too, share an equal responsibility to remain cool, courteous drivers.

``It's going to become of an issue in the immediate future,'' said the Auto Club's Paul Gonzales.

``Almost everything we get comes by truck,'' he added. ``There is more demand for goods delivered by truck, so there's going to be more and more demand for big rigs on the road.''

Southern California commuters have been caught in traffic jams with some spectacular spills - from toilet paper littering the Ventura Freeway last month to frozen meat spilled across the 10 Freeway and rising dough falling out of a disabled truck on the side of the road.

Some fruits and vegetables were lost about 2 a.m. Wednesday, when a big rig hit an overpass abutment and the center guardrail near Alameda Avenue in Burbank, before bursting into flame, CHP Sgt. Paul Gouailhardou. The driver, his son and another passenger escaped serious injury.

Officers were investigating whether the driver fell asleep or experienced equipment failure when his rig crashed, Gouailhardou said.

Some 22,000 southbound commuters and 17,000 northbound commuters were detoured or delayed by the crash, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.

In cases like this, firefighters, emergency workers, Caltrans crews, tow- truck operators and extra CHP personnel are called into action, sometimes being roused from sleep to come to the scene, officials said.

If a fuel tanker crashes, it can take up to four hours just to pump out the contents before some rigs can be safely towed, said Burch.

``That's where a lot of the extended SigAlerts come from,'' he said.

When fuel or other hazards are spilled, the cleanup stretches longer as crews scoop up the mess and cover the slick surface with sand to make sure it's safe for commuters. With fires, burned asphalt can actually require repaving before cars can use the lanes again, officials said.

``Those things are going to take more time,'' Burch said.

Despite what can seem like interminable delays for commuters trying to get to work, the CHP and Caltrans say their goal is to get crashes cleaned up and lanes opened as quickly as possible.

``We realize people are being inconvenienced,'' Burch said. ``We do have to verify everything is safe before we open up.''

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com