Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Amanda Butterfield reporting A dump truck rolled on a busy Draper street near 14000 South last night. The driver died.
Sgt. Allred/Draper City Police Depart.: "That vehicle should not have left the lot, much less been on the hill and hauling any kind of rocks."
Eyewitness News has discovered the brakes were so bad, the truck should have never been on the road. We've also learned we share the road with a potentially large number of trucks that wouldn't pass inspection.
The responsibility for the wreck that happened last night is two fold. Police say had both parts done their job, there would have been no death here.
Reporter: "So it sounds like this death could have been prevented?
Sgt. Allred/Draper City Police Department: "Definitely."
Here's why: Eyewitness obtained this inspection Utah Highway Patrol gave Draper Police Department on the wrecked truck. Keep in mind, these are just the major factors that lead to the wreck. On one of the axles, the rivets were driven into the drum.
"That's like grinding brakes.."
One of the brake shoes: worn out. Three brakes were out of adjustment, meaning they weren't working at full capacity. An air hose was disconnected, and a back brake was so bad, it didn't work.
Sgt. Greg Lundell/UHP: "It should not have been on the road."
Sgt. Greg Lundell did the inspection himself, and says somebody had to have known all of this. He also says the concern of bad brakes on trucks is a problem everywhere.
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Last year, UHP and U-Dot found 10,000 violations on 27,000 trucks that were serious enough the trucks were taken off the road.
Sgt. Lundell/UHP: "That is high."
And the frequent problem: brakes.
Sgt. Lundell/UHP: "We do see a lot of bad brakes on trucks."
In Monday's fatal wreck, two people should have known the brakes were bad.
Sgt. Gerry Allred. Draper City Police Dept.: "The driver is ultimately responsibility to make sure before he leaves that his vehicle is safe. However, the owners of the vehicles are supposed to make sure those vehicles are in compliance as they said on the law."
UHP says Todd Wilhite is the owner of the truck. We tried to reach Wilhite at his place of work and on the phone, he never returned calls.
However, Sgt. Lundell says at the scene, Wilhite told him that the driver did an inspection at the top of the hill before he headed down. Lundell says more investigation is needed. Sgt. Lundell: "You would question whether they were actually inspected based on the physical evidence of looking at the brakes at the bottom of the hill."
So is this road safe? The city engineer says yes, if you go the posted speed of 35 miles an hour. He did say they may have to seriously look into closing this road to trucks though.
