Runaway gravel trucks could come with a quarry

“At least three killed when gravel truck careens off highway in Santa Barbara and into a house.” (Source: Los Angeles Times, 8/24/10)

The brakes on a truck loaded with 26 tons of quarry gravel failed going downhill on Highway 154. Speeding at 50 mph, the truck hit two vehicles before destroying a house and killing the three people inside.

The mountaintop site chosen by Granite Construction for their proposed Liberty Quarry would be a perfect setting for a similar accident. According to Granite’s DEIR, the quarry access road would include grades up to 18 percent and a steep switchback. There wo...