Commercial vehicle inspections begin on Transmountain Road
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Department began commercial vehicle inspections along Transmountain Road as part of an initiative to reduce crashes in the area.
Retired truck driver Sebastian Arellano said crashes like this are preventable.
“It’s such a tragic accident and did not have to happen. It did not have to happen,” Arellano said.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson announced the initiative Tuesday after a deadly eight-vehicle crash at Loop 375 and North Desert Boulevard. Police said a semi’s brakes failed before it charged down the road, causing seven other vehicles to crash.
“Effective immediately, the El Paso Police Department’s commercial vehicle inspection inspectors going to start inspecting vehicles, commercial vehicles that are going up on Transmountain Road,” Mayor Johnson said at the news conference.
The El Paso Police Department started inspecting commercial vehicles on Transmountain in an enhanced safety effort.
El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas said police have worked with the state in the past by putting up signage, directing semis to runaway ramps. Despite those initiatives, he said there are still people getting killed.
“So we’re stepping up the enforcement to make sure that these vehicles are safe on there,” Chief Pacillas said.
Pacillas said police will be looking for commercial vehicles that certified inspectors can pull over.
According to Sergeant Robert Gomez, police can conduct an inspection at any time. Gomez said the El Paso Police Department currently only has six certified inspectors.
He says they won’t stop every commercial vehicle, but the goal is for drivers to be in compliance of regulations.
When stopped, police are looking for safety measures like brakes, lights, seatbelts and couplers. Sergeant Gomez says the officer will not only check the driver’s logbook but will get underneath the vehicle to check components of the vehicle.
Sergeant Gomez says if a commercial vehicle is deemed unsafe during the inspection, an officer will give the driver the opportunity to fix the vehicle on the side of the road.
If the driver is unable to correct the violation on the side of the road, he says a commercial vehicle truck will be called to move the truck off the side of the road.
A semi under inspection on Transmountain Road.
Sergeant Gomez says vehicles that are deemed unsafe face Class C citations. He says the cost of those citations can get up to $500.
Arellano says that cost is a lot higher than if a truck driver were to check their vehicle before getting on the road.
“So here we go again. You didn’t take care of it before you left. Now it’s costing them in a lot more money than the minutes it would have taken them to just take care of this,” Arellano said.
Arellano says the time it takes to check the brakes beforehand is worth it.
“It’s going to take time. Let me tell you, what’s it going to cost you more? Waiting an hour or two, spending 300 bucks on a mechanic or replacing brakes or whatever, or the amount of money that is paid off when a when somebody perishes during a truck accident,” Arellano said.
Tuesday, Pacillas urged drivers to give inspection crews the space they need and to expect possible congestion in the area.
In response to questions about why semis aren’t diverted from using transmountain all together, spokesperson Lauren Macias-Cervantes said “the department generally does not have the authority to prohibit the use of a state highway by a class of vehicles that are operating within applicable legal size and weight limits.”
She went on to say local governments may request traffic restrictions, but it will require review and approval through the appropriate transportation authorities.
Arellano said what police are doing is just the beginning.
“This is a great start. It’s a great start, but it’s so much more,” Arellano said.
ABC-7 has reached out to the El Paso Sheriff’s Department, El Paso Police Department, Department of Public Safety, and the Texas Department of Transportation to learn the protocol for stopping tractor-trailers and semis, what is being checked, and which citations drivers are at risk of receiving.
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