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3 Dead After Driver Loses Control of Gravel Truck, Crashes Into Residence
By Lara Cooper, Noozhawk Staff Writer | 
12:30 p.m. | Published on 08.24.2010
A man, a woman and a 7-year-old boy died Tuesday morning after a truck hauling gravel lost control of its brakes and plowed into a residence at 4111 State St. in Santa Barbara, near the Hope Ranch Inn.
The 9-1-1 call came in at 6:53 a.m. Tuesday, and Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. David Sadecki said numerous engines were responding, both county and city, and that four ambulances were on scene.
California Highway Patrol officials confirmed that three people inside the collapsed structure are dead, but their identities are unknown.
The driver of the truck, Joaquin Garcia Morales of Oxnard, sustained minor injuries, including back pain and facial lacerations.
CHP public information officer Jeremy Wayland said Morales was hauling gravel from a rock quarry in Santa Ynez and was the owner and operator of the truck’s cab. Officials at the scene said Morales had been experiencing brake problems before getting onto Highway 154.
Several witnesses saw billowing smoke coming from the truck’s brakes as he went through the Calle Real and State Street intersections without stopping, going about 45 miles per hour.
The investigation is continuing to determine whether the brake problems were mechanical or driver error, authorities said.
Morales’ truck then navigated into the parking lot area of the Hope Ranch Inn and was unable to stop as it crashed into three cars parked in front of the cottage residence, at the end of a driveway between the inn and the Palapa restaurant.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Comments
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» on 08.24.10 @ 09:42 AM
No PHOTOS?! Nothing on News-Press’ website, nothing on KEYT’s website except text, nothing AT ALL on the Daily Sound’s website. Why is Santa Barbara news reporting so lame?
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» on 08.24.10 @ 10:31 AM
Tragedy. Why haven’t we banned big rigs on the 154? There’s a truck-related accident at least once a month.
Now they’re rocketing off the mountains and into the town at high speed. Force these truck drivers to use the 101, please.
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» on 08.24.10 @ 11:45 AM
There are pictures on EdHat.
This is just a horrible tragedy. I made a call to ban big rigs on the 154 after the FedEx crash earlier this year and was mocked at. Maybe now people will realize the danger. There are plenty of bad drivers on the pass already, we do not need big rigs to add to the problem.
The gravel pit where this truck picked up its load is located on the south side of the 154 across from Bradbury Dam. Should this truck have gone the long way around down the 246 through Solvang to the 101?
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» on 08.24.10 @ 01:35 PM
Actually, it turns out EdHat beat all other SB media outlets to the punch with decent news photos of this accident on their website before anyone else. The gauntlet has been thrown down journalists!
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» on 08.24.10 @ 04:23 PM
To Citizen Watchdog & J.G. Read all of your Noozhawk. Perhaps we should ban vans from State St. and Caddilacs from Cabrillo Blvd. Does this sound right? This is why they call them accidents, not on-purposes.
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» on 08.24.10 @ 04:45 PM
Good observation blue top. Too often in the emotion of such a tragedy we start the ole legalism wagon rolling out with more restrictions and regulations without once ever considering the long term effects. Ever wonder why it costs 10 million dollars a mile to build a freeway anymore, yet accidents still happen? Of course all this is conjecture at this point. Let’s wait until the investigation is done before declaring war on transportation. Same goes for oil spills and financial melt downs.
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