Caltrans Defends Bay Bridge Design

The highway patrol says speeding is to blame.

The latest accident happened around 3:30 Monday morning when a truck and trailer carrying a full load of pears struck the right rail and went over the edge of the bridge, plunging down to Yerba Buena Island. The driver was killed on impact.

KCBS' Chris Filippi reports

Some witness statements indicate the driver was speeding in a 40 mph zone.

The CHP says there have been over 40 accidents on the S-curve since it was installed over Labor Day weekend, but Caltrans officials point out that's out of more than 16 million trips on the span.

Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney promises safety enhancements to the bridge.

Legislators Concerned About Bridge Safety

The spate of accidents on the Bay Bridge S-curve are not sitting well with some state lawmakers.

Monday morning's fatal accident is just the latest of several mishaps on the Bay Bridge S-curve and Democratic state Senator Mark DeSaulnier of Concord says something needs to be done about the crashes.

"These aren't isolated incidents when it comes to the S-curve," he said. "We have to do what we can do to find out what we can do to make sure they cease to happen."

KCBS' Melissa Culross reports

DeSaulnier, who also has expressed concern over the recent eyebar repair failure, sits on the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, as does Democratic state Senator Joe Simitian of Palo Alto. Simitian says he understands the public's frustration over problems with the Bay Bridge retrofit project.

"Question we're going to look in early January when we have a hearing or hearings and talk to folks at Caltrans is not only what's happened but what assurances can we be given that we're not going to be looking at these kinds of problems in the future," he said.

Simitian says these upcoming hearings are not about laying blame but rather about solving whatever problems are causing accidents on the span.

KCBS' Holly Quan on the K-rail

Q&A on S-curve

(ewi)