Courtesy of Keith and Debra Crownover The front yard of a house on the 100 block of Burbank Avenue in the Silver Strand neighborhood near Oxnard was hit twice this year by semi trucks. In both instances, the drivers attempted to flee. To see surveillance footage of the crashes visit VCStar.com or log in to the VCStar app on your mobile device.
Trucks smash yard...again
Semis hit and run twice
Darn GPS.
Big rigs have twice run over the same Silver Strand patio this year — most recently on Monday — crushing a deck, smashing a fence and flattening a street sign onto wood chairs, splintering one.
“They both took off running,” Keith Crownover said of the unrelated hit-and-run incidents captured by the family’s security cameras.
PHOTO BY PICASA
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Keith Crownover after a semi truck hit-and-run incident in his front yard Jan. 29 on Burbank Avenue in Silver Strand.
Both drivers were later cited by the California Highway Patrol and have been referred to prosecutors for possible misdemeanor charges. The patio was empty both times and no one was hurt.
For residents of the unincorporated beach community outside Oxnard, wayward big rigs have been a problem in recent years.
The narrow, mile-long neighborhood between Channel Islands Harbor and the Port of Hueneme has no room for trucks to turn around.
“If you’re driving a big rig, you’re stuck,” said CHP Officer Victor Varela.
Residents believe more signage is needed.
Mike Zimmerman, who lives near the Crownovers’ property at Burbank and Island View avenues, manages a trucking business and says the single sign prohibiting trucks over 5 tons is too little, too late.
“They need blinking signs, or something to notify drivers there is no truck turnaround in the area,” said Zimmerman, who has helped back out several stray semis.
Rigs headed south on Victoria Avenue intending to take a left onto Naval Base Ventura County sometimes miss the turn, he said, and end up in the neighborhood. Zimmerman believes the uptick in errant big rigs is related to GPS navigation systems.
PHOTO BY PICASA
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Keith Crownover’s front yard after a second semi truck plowed through on Burbank Avenue in Silver Strand on May 12.
For Keith and Debbie Crownover, who live in Thousand Oaks and have owned the Silver Strand house for 22 years, the dual drive-overs are something new. Both incidents were initially denied by the trucking firms involved, they said, but the videos provided proof to insurance companies.
Damage from the Jan. 29 hit-and-run cost $9,400 to fix, Keith Crownover said, and has since been covered by insurance.
A driver from Fresno trucking firm Akal Transport can be seen trying to make the tight turn off Island View before the side of his truck plows over a corner of the patio. The semi pauses briefly before driving away. A second camera shows someone running from the home trying to chase it down on foot. A Canadian bicycling team was renting the home at the time, Debbie Crownover said.
A man who identified himself as the son of the trucking firm’s owner said Friday the driver is no longer working there, but hung up before answering additional questions.
The CHP’s Varela said the driver admitted to a CHP officer that he fled the scene because he was scared.
On Monday, a truck from Bakersfield firm Gurkaran Transportation ran over the same section of patio and fled the scene. Company officials did not return a message Friday.
That driver ended up heading the wrong way down Victoria Avenue while trying to escape, Varela said, and was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy.
The Crownovers have so far paid about $3,000 to patch up Monday’s damage and hope to be reimbursed by the trucker’s insurer.
PHOTO BY PICASA
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Keith Crownover (left), with his contractor Kevin Miller of Simi Valley, after a second semi truck hit-and-run incident happened in his front yard on Burbank Avenue in Silver Strand on May 12.
The Crownovers, Zimmerman and others have so far been frustrated bringing up the issue with local authorities, but they hope the footage will light some fires.
The area is in a tangle of jurisdictions, with Ventura County, Oxnard and the Navy playing a part.
Ventura County Supervisor John Zaragoza called the incidents “horrific” and said his office is trying to work with Oxnard to install bigger signs. Non-Navy land south of Channel Islands Boulevard is in the county, but Victoria Avenue itself — including street signs — is Oxnard’s.
Oxnard Mayor Tim Flynn hadn’t heard of the issue until Friday afternoon, but said a city traffic engineer has requested a change of signage where a truck route is indicated on southbound Victoria.
Jared Bouchard, general manager of the Channel Islands Beach Community Service District, which provides water, trash and other services to the area, said multiple district fire hydrants have been hit by misguided trucks over the years. He initially thought trucks were trying to access the Port of Hueneme, but port officials told him none of their traffic enters through the gate off Victoria Avenue. He now believes most of the trucks are trying to get to the Navy base. He has also had a difficult time getting anyone to pay attention.
“It’s been a longstanding issue,” he said of the trucks and the jurisdictional questions.
The Crownovers are most worried about safety.
“Somebody is going to get killed down there,” Keith Crownover said.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/may/16/silver-strand-patio-crushed-twice-by-big-rigs/#ixzz31wNHO6w8
- vcstar.com
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