If you've had a truck accident anywhere in California from Oxnard to Palmdale, Apple Valley to Camarillo, from Corona in Orange County, CA to Fontana, from Victorville to Twentynine Palms or even in Hesperia, Moreno Valley, San Diego, Oceanside, Ontario, Perris, Redlands, or Palm Springs, you've probably been wondering if the California state legislators are working on any new ways to try to prevent truck accidents.

I had heard that the state's legislators were rushing to pass some new laws to prevent truck accidents so I called one of my state Senators to get a sneak peak at just how the proposed legislation would affect big rig truck drivers in California and personal injury victims.

"So you're outlawing texting by truck drivers?" I asked.

"Who told you that?" the Senator asked. "We're outlawing jacknifing"

"Huh?" I asked. "Jacknifed trucks aren't jacknifed intentionally."

"Then why do they happen so often?" the Senator asked. "From now on, if you jacknife your truck, you do the time."

"Oh good grief," I said. "What else are you considering to prevent big rig accidents?"

"Blind spots," the Senator said proudly.

"This is ridiculous," I said. "That comes with the territory of driving a big rig truck. You might as well outlaw trucks from carrying any loads."

The Senator made a note of that despite my frown.

"Have you considered the fact that in as much as 75 percent of the car versus big rig truck accidents, the driver of the car is at fault?"

"Of course we know that," the Senator said. "Seventy-five percent?"

I nodded.

"Something's got to be done about those car drivers," the Senator said.

"You Senators still have a good idea to want to improve truck safety," I said. "You're just going about it the wrong way."

"What do you suggest?" the Senator asked.

"Focus on ensuring that big rigs have properly functioning brake systems," I said and watched the Senator taking furious notes.

"That's good. That's really good. Anything else?" the Senator asked.

"Spot check the trucks for proper loading and not just weigh them," I said

"Excellent, excellent," the Senator said. "Anything else?"

"How about penalizing companies that skirt the rules on resting truck drivers so they don't fall asleep on the roads," I suggested.

"That can be done, sure," the Senator said.

"But you're going to have to ensure that the logs of truck drivers aren't fudged when it comes to recording the hours a truck driver spends behind the wheel," I said.

"We'll put our best minds on it," the Senator said.

I shuddered to think what that might produce.

"Anything else?" the Senator asked.

"How about spot checking the truck drivers for alcohol or drugs?" I asked. "You do it for car drivers on weekends and holidays. Why not for truck drivers?"

"Good question," the Senator said. "Do you have any other suggestions?"

"I do," I said. "Why don't you have the Highway Patrol focus their attention more on trucks that exceed the speed limit than on car drivers.. Can you imagine how much more dangerous a big-rig truck is driving at a dangerous speed with a full load is than a little car?"

"It's harder to catch those truck drivers," the Senator said. "Don't they still have CB radios and use code language like in the Dukes of Hazard?"

I shook my head and left as the Senator was rushing back to tell his colleagues what great new ideas he had come up with to prevent truck accidents.

News Note - On October 1, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger banned motorists from texting, writing or reading messages on electronic devices. The law goes into effect January 1, 2009.