Western Railroad Discussion > Amtrak crash: truck driver had 5 violations in CA

Reno Gazette Journal Update at 5:19 p.m.

The cell phone of truck driver Lawrence Ruben Valli was found in a field near the crash site where his vehicle slammed into an Amtrak train, according to a press conference just held by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles said that Lawrence Ruben Valli, the driver of the truck that slammed into the Amtrak train, said that Valli first acquired his Nevada commercial driver’s license in October 2009, but changed his address in 2011, making it appear on their records as new.

California officials said Valli has five violations on his record, including three speeding tickets, one ticket for failing to wear a seatbelt, and one in 2008 for talking on a cell phone.

At the time of his last California ticket, Valli, 43, was working for Western Express, a commercial trucking company based in Nashville, Tenn.

Valli worked for the company, which had lines running in 48 states, from Jan. 7, 2009 to Feb. 10, 2011, according to a company spokeswoman. She could not say why he left.

Three of the speeding tickets Lawrence Ruben Valli, the driver of the truck that slammed into the Amtrak train on Friday, was issued in California were for driving a school bus over the speed limit.

http://www.rgj.com/article/20110627/NEWS/110627009/Amtrak+train+crash++Truck+driver+had+5+violations+in+California++cell+phone+found++his+family+arrives+in+Reno

[Expect more information shortly as the NTSB just concluded their afternoon press conference.]

Meanwhile, the Highway Patrols rarely stop speeding trucks...they just blow on by.

Has anyone heard a specific date/time for when the mainline will reopen between Sparks and Winnemucca? e.g. from someone within Union Pacific?

According to Calrailfans posts, they've been running trains on the Nevada Sub since
yesterday afternoon. The damaged AMTK cars set off the tracks where the train stopped.

OK I am about fed up. I've been following this story in the media and on TO since Friday. First off I am sick and tired of the media referring to this as an Amtrak crash. It was not an Amtrak crash, it was a stupid truck driver crash. I am also tired of some of the posters on here making excuses for this guy. There IS NO EXCUSE FOR his actions. But some posters are saying oh I've driven a truck and blah blah blah this guy could have been fatigued, distracted and any other freaking excuse they can come up with. The facts say that this guy had 5 moving violations on his record. I don't know about you guys but I've had ONE moving violation in the last 20 years and I don't drive for a living. Enough said as I step of my soap box.
Steve B.

I watched the press conference on the NTSB website, You Tube site.

While you can't cure stupid, the new CSA rules should help to get these bad drivers off the road and keep companies from knowingly hiring them.
http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/default.aspx

stevelv Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OK I am about fed up. I've been following this
> story in the media and on TO since Friday. First
> off I am sick and tired of the media referring to
> this as an Amtrak crash. It was not an Amtrak
> crash, it was a stupid truck driver crash. I am
> also tired of some of the posters on here making
> excuses for this guy.

I don't understand the thought that fault is somehow conveyed in the title. If a airplane crashes, opps impacts the ground, due to a lightning strike, is this a lightning crash? Of course its an Amtrak crash, unfortunately Amtrak was involved. Crash is defined as "to undergo sudden damage or destruction on impact" and that is what Amtrak did. It might be better to call it an Amtrak-Truck Crash or Amtrak-Truck Collision, but its still a crash. Same argument when the news reports "AMTRAK KILLS 3", of course Amtrak hit the tresspassers and KILLED them, they didn't kill themselves and they didn't die of fright...Amtrak did it.

As far as making excuses for this guy, here is my opinion. If it was purely a mechanical defect that the driver had no control over and no way to detect it until the actual crash, then yes, I fill sorry for the driver as he was placed in a no-win situation...hell was about to occur. If it was anything else, oversight of his truck's condition, text messaging, on a cell phone, sleeping, reading the latest issue of BIG RIG DIGEST, then I make no excuses for him. But remember, he paid for his mistakes within his life. Isn't a death sentence the maximum punishment for any crime...he got it, it was self-imposed. I do fell sorry for his family, they lost someone they loved, cared for in a tragic event and now, they will have to deal with this death as any of us who but under more finger point, more attention than any of us would want during such an event.

BNSF6400 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> stevelv Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > OK I am about fed up. I've been following this
> > story in the media and on TO since Friday.
> First
> > off I am sick and tired of the media referring
> to
> > this as an Amtrak crash. It was not an Amtrak
> > crash, it was a stupid truck driver crash. I
> am
> > also tired of some of the posters on here
> making
> > excuses for this guy.
>
> I don't understand the thought that fault is
> somehow conveyed in the title. If a airplane
> crashes, opps impacts the ground, due to a
> lightning strike, is this a lightning crash? Of
> course its an Amtrak crash, unfortunately Amtrak
> was involved. Crash is defined as "to undergo
> sudden damage or destruction on impact" and that
> is what Amtrak did. It might be better to call it
> an Amtrak-Truck Crash or Amtrak-Truck Collision,
> but its still a crash. Same argument when the
> news reports "AMTRAK KILLS 3", of course Amtrak
> hit the tresspassers and KILLED them, they didn't
> kill themselves and they didn't die of
> fright...Amtrak did it.
>
> As far as making excuses for this guy, here is my
> opinion. If it was purely a mechanical defect
> that the driver had no control over and no way to
> detect it until the actual crash, then yes, I fill
> sorry for the driver as he was placed in a no-win
> situation...hell was about to occur. If it was
> anything else, oversight of his truck's condition,
> text messaging, on a cell phone, sleeping, reading
> the latest issue of BIG RIG DIGEST, then I make no
> excuses for him. But remember, he paid for his
> mistakes within his life. Isn't a death sentence
> the maximum punishment for any crime...he got it,
> it was self-imposed. I do fell sorry for his
> family, they lost someone they loved, cared for in
> a tragic event and now, they will have to deal
> with this death as any of us who but under more
> finger point, more attention than any of us would
> want during such an event.


Well said!

SantaFeRuss

I believe that if I was involved in a violent accident, my cell phone would be found in the vicinity of the wreckage whether I was using it at the time or not. The question is --- was he using it at the time of the accident and was it a contributing factor in the accident.
Early in his adult life (early 50s) my Dad fell asleep at the wheel and put a semi in the grader ditch. It ended his truck driving career for decades. Much later in his life (80s) he got the chance to go trucking again as a driver for a contract mail carrier. He was one of their best and safest drivers.
Let's stop speculating about what we do not know and let the Investigators do their job.

Old Bob out in Lost Wages

Be honest with your shelves. We all have gotten tickets during our lifetime. This guy had five, over a period of time. Over a period of 24 years I have gotten tickets, so have many of you, if not most. Trucks speed, cars speed. How many times have you cut off a truck to get to that off ramp? How many of you have crossed a double yellow line to get around a slow vehicle? We all do stupid things while driving. Stop being sanctimonious. Face your shelves in the mirror and point your bony little finger of righteous indignation at your shelves for ounce!

needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Be honest with your shelves. We all have gotten
> tickets during our lifetime. This guy had five,
> over a period of time. Over a period of 24 years I
> have gotten tickets, so have many of you, if not
> most. Trucks speed, cars speed. How many times
> have you cut off a truck to get to that off ramp?
> How many of you have crossed a double yellow line
> to get around a slow vehicle? We all do stupid
> things while driving. Stop being sanctimonious.
> Face your shelves in the mirror and point your
> bony little finger of righteous indignation at
> your shelves for ounce!
5 tickets in what 3 years? Stretching things a bit?

needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Be honest with your shelves. We all have gotten
> tickets during our lifetime. This guy had five,
> over a period of time. Over a period of 24 years I
> have gotten tickets, so have many of you, if not
> most. Trucks speed, cars speed. How many times
> have you cut off a truck to get to that off ramp?
> How many of you have crossed a double yellow line
> to get around a slow vehicle? We all do stupid
> things while driving. Stop being sanctimonious.
> Face your shelves in the mirror and point your
> bony little finger of righteous indignation at
> your shelves for ounce!

I've had drivers' licences since October of 1961, and I've had one ticket - May 1, 1988, a beautiful spring day, for 69 in a 55 on IL 126 between Yorkville and Plainfield. Everybody says I'm a fast driver, but I pay attention. Evidently this guy didn't.

And what do my shelves have to do with this?

Enough is Enough!!!

I have two brother-in-laws that own their own logging trucks. They get paid by the weight they haul to the mill. The more trips they make in a day, the more money they make. I have ridden with them and they don't take chances. The ones that do, don't last. Mistakes in the woods or on the highways are not forgiving and usually career ending. In some ways, like the railroad.

All I know is what I see in the papers. Looks like he thought he could beat the train or he was distracted but at the last minute figured he wouldn't make it. The two other trucks he was running with saw the whole thing. The 300 some odd feet of skid marks? It never ends in a tie.

Someone said, put in an overpass. Millions of dollars because of one stupid person that had no business behind the wheel?

Look elsewhere for blame, not a grade crossing where you can see for miles in either direction.

I am sorry for the crew and the people that lost their lives that had nothing to do with why they are dead. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have no feelings for the driver, he did it to himself.

Now, lets move on to happier times and hope there is not a repeat of this.


Nudge

BNSF6400 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> But remember, he paid for his
> mistakes within his life. Isn't a death sentence
> the maximum punishment for any crime...he got it,
> it was self-imposed. I do fell sorry for his
> family, they lost someone they loved, cared for in
> a tragic event and now, they will have to deal
> with this death as any of us who but under more
> finger point, more attention than any of us would
> want during such an event.

Another 5 innocent people also paid with their lives.

I looked at my shelves in the mirror and they just looked backwards???

SOB

And the label on the shaving cream can said "ymaoF ettelliG." How do you pronounce that?

WAF Wrote: > 5 tickets in what 3 years? Stretching things a
> bit?


Ho many miles do you drive a week? A OTR drive can put in 500 miles a day, over 2000 miles a week. A local driver can do over a thousand a week. The more miles you drive, your chances increase for a ticket. The Calif DMV know this, that's why commercial drivers can get a couple more points than a car driver. With California's budget problems, the CHP has tired to balance the budget by writing tickets. If your paid hourly, you won't push the limit, but if your paid by the mile or the ton, you well. Stretching things, no I think not. Walk, or better yet, drive a few miles in a drivers shoes, otherwise your just blowing smoke. And my spelling is bad sometimes, but I'm assuming your intelligent enough to know what I mean.

The guy was an accident waiting for a place to happen and sadly several people paid the price for his tickets

Anyone who uses bad judgement, whether on the road, on the job, at home, is a accident waiting to happen. We all have made bad decisions, more than likely nothing went wrong, or if it did, you only hurt yourself. Other times the people at the wrong place and wrong time, suffer from your actions.