[Vision2020] Van was no match for megaloads

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (December 14, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Van was no match for megaloads
James Urquidez obeyed his first instinct when he realized a megaload was coming right for his head: duck.
"When I realized he wasn't going to make it, it was too late to do anything else," Urquidez said Monday.
Last Tuesday night, Urquidez was waiting with several other vehicles on U.S. Highway 95 just south of Moscow for three giant Imperial Oil shipments of refining equipment to pass. One of the megaloads, which was supposed to wait in a staging area, struck Urquidez's 1996 Chevrolet Astrovan on the upper driver's side.
"It exploded the side window from the pressure," Urquidez said. "It crushed the windshield. I don't know if it would have hit me or not, but I was able to duck out of the way."
Urquidez said he is upset that the oil company, the hauling company and the Idaho State Police have "minimized" his ordeal.
"They said it was 'noninjury,' but what they failed to mention is that the guy almost killed me," he said. "And my van is destroyed. It just kind of ticked me off."
And while he wasn't taken to the hospital - technically classifying the accident as noninjury - Urquidez said he suffered a contusion to his leg and is experiencing back pain.
"I'm not looking to make any money," the Moscow cabinetmaker said. "I just want it to be made right. And I think part of making it right is not minimizing it."
An insurance adjuster was supposed to visit his home Monday, Urquidez said, but he still felt like the companies involved were dragging their feet.
The accident resulted in the suspension of Imperial's license from the Idaho Transportation Department to ship its modules to the Kearl oil sands extraction project in Canada.
ISP Capt. Lonnie Richardson said the accident was purely the result of error on the part of the driver.
ISP cited Vladimir Purgar of Calgary, Alberta, for inattentive driving. Purgar had driven the route several times before, and was at the pre-trip safety briefing.
Purgar told investigators the pilot car and the ISP trooper assigned to his load left the staging area, and he mistakenly followed.
Imperial Oil spokesman Pius Rolheiser said the damage to Urquidez's vehicle is a matter for Mammoet's insurance company to settle, but Imperial is cooperating with the investigations into the incident and takes it "very seriously."
"There is a specific transportation plan," Rolheiser said. "There are procedures and protocols, and we're working with Mammoet to measure how those processes and protocols were followed."
Mammoet did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The megaloads have stirred controversy in communities through which they pass, sparking frequent protests in Moscow especially. But Urquidez said he is not among the naysayers.
"I'm not against the megaloads," he said. "I'm against getting hit by a megaload."
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So, this is what "driver error" looks like.
And just who is responsible for ensuring that these drivers are sufficiently trained before they are turned loose on public roads behind the wheel of a megaload?
Maybe the fault rests with the people of Idaho for trusting our elected officials to look after our safety.  I guess everything does have a price tag, huh?
As Johnny Cash so appropriately asked, "How high is the water?"
Let's hope subsequent responses to Mr. Cash's query are not found in the obituaries.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown
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