[Dreamer]

And.. to throw it right back in the public eye, we get stuff like this mess in CA where the tanker blew up on the approach to the Bay Bridge.. there's all kinds of stories circulating.

You get the Landline version:

Land Line Magazine: The Business Magazine for Professional Truckers

Tanker fire collapses highway



Investigators say it appears a tanker truck driver was exceeding the 50 mph speed limit when his rig crashed and exploded into flames on an approach to the Bay Bridge in Oakland, CA, early Sunday.

The resulting fire – fueled by 8,600 gallons of gasoline – caused an overhead ramp to collapse and cut off access from the bridge to eastbound Interstate 580.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the trucker barely made it out alive before the explosion.

The man – 51-year-old James Mosqueda of Woodland, CA, was driving for Sabek Transportation of San Francisco. He suffered second-degree burns on his face, neck and hands.

Mosqueda managed to walk a mile and a half and hail a taxi to take him to a hospital after the incident occurred.

A California Highway Patrol spokesman told the Chronicle that Mosqueda has a clean driving record with no history of drug or alcohol problems, and that he had done volunteer work for a Christian ministry that helps troubled teenagers in the past.

Ok, he was speeding, but sounds like a decent enough guy. Bad, but.. not crucifying.

Then we get this AP version:

Crashed tanker driver had criminal record - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com


Crashed tanker driver had criminal record
Man who crashed tanker, brought down Bay Area road a convicted felon
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:53 a.m. ET May 1, 2007
OAKLAND, Calif. - The driver who crashed a tanker loaded with gasoline and brought down a heavily trafficked highway overpass had a history of criminal activity, including drug and burglary arrests, yet was given a commercial trucker's license.

James Mosqueda, 51, served two years and eight months in prison following a 1996 arrest for heroin possession in Sacramento County, court records show. His criminal rap sheet stretching back to 1981 includes arrests for burglary, felony drug charges and possession of stolen property, according to the California Department of Corrections and the Sacramento County District Attorney's office.

Yet Mosqueda was able to get his commercial truck driver's license because there is nothing in the state's vehicle code that prevents a convicted felon who has served his sentence from working as a truck driver — so long as he has a clear driving record, California Highway Patrol Chief Steve Vaughn said.

The elevated section of highway that funnels traffic from the Bay Bridge to a number of key freeways was destroyed early Sunday after flames from Mosqueda's overturned gasoline truck caused part of that overpass to buckle and collapse onto a roadway below. The driver walked away with second-degree burns and remained hospitalized Monday in San Francisco.

A predicted traffic nightmare failed to materialize Monday as workers heeded the dire warnings and stayed home, or seized on free public transportation. But transit officials cautioned that it will be months before things return to normal for Bay Area commuters.


The facts? A dude was going to fast, crashed and his truck burned. Yes a horrible thing, but which one sells more papers?