Since You Asked: Rocks chip away at reader's patience

Q:I just replaced my third windshield in as many years thanks to the gravel trucks on Highway 20. Why are they not required to cover their loads? Do the trucking companies have any liability for the damage they do? I have a friend who rides a motorcycle and he says he takes his life in his hands every time he has to ride Highway 20.

A:Truck trailers must be covered if aggregate — that includes rocks, dirt and sand — is piled high enough to be seen over the sides of the trailer. Boulders, which tend to stay put in the trailer, don't have to be covered, said Officer Kedren Emery, who enforces commercial vehicle rules for the Yuba-Sutter office of the California Highway Patrol.

The companies are liable, all right, but it's hard to prove unless a rock lodges in your windshield and can be matched to the truck's load, Emery said.

Emery and CHP spokesman Jeff Larson said they weren't aware of any motorcyclists being injured. But that's bound to have happened.

Those three rocks that cracked your windshields didn't necessarily come off the top of the load. Sometimes, in the case of bottom-dumping trailers, the bottom doors close on a rock, allowing other rocks to fall onto the road. Or rocks may have been left sitting on "cross members" under the truck, Emery said.

Truck drivers are supposed to check for those dangerous conditions but often don't. Emery, who's been pelted more than once in her patrol car, said she could drive down to Hammonton-Smartville Road, probably the area's busiest gravel truck thoroughfare, and write 10 citations in no time at all. She didn't mention any companies by name.

Bottom-dumping aggregate trucks are supposed to have a center mudflap extending to 5 inches above the road. That would prevent a lot of windshield damage, she said.

It's not unusual for a car driver with a pre-existing windshield crack to call the CHP and blame it on the truck in front. When the truck is pulled over, oftentimes no violation is found, Emery said.

"Some folks use trucking companies as a means of getting a new windshield," she said.

Trucks sometimes get blamed unfairly. That stone that just ruined your day could have been kicked up by a vehicle — even a car — traveling in the opposite direction, she said.

Whatever the reason, cracked windshields are a cost of living life in Yuba-Sutter — apparently the gravel capital of Northern California.

Reporter's note: Reader Tina Lavy pointed out that Stephen Brammer, the late adjutant of American Legion Post 750, wasn't the only person who worked with Boy Scouts to place flags near Yuba City's veterans memorial on Veterans Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

Starting in 1999, John Wright, retired Yuba City public works director, goes out at sunrise with members of Boy Scout Troop 46, raising almost 100 flags along Butte House Road, Civic Center Boulevard and Veterans Memorial Circle, said Lavy.

Wright's son, Scott, a former Troop 46 scout, is now a cadet at West Point. Lavy's son, Anthony, also a former troop member, is now at the Air Force Academy.

Since You Asked is published Mondays. Send questions to reporter Rob Young at the Appeal-Democrat, P.O. Box 431, Marysville CA 95901, e-mail him at ryoung@appealdemocrat or call 749-4710.