How Do You Secure Flat-Bed Trailers? Depends On Where You Live

Maria Quinones-Medrano, 47, was killed Wednesday when a trailer came loose on a passing truck and slammed into her car.

The crash shut down Indian Canyon for six hours.

We’re also finding out these kinds of accidents where a trailer comes loose are happening more and more.

One man is using the internet to stop the deaths and rally for reform.

The man’s name is Ron Melancon, and he’s actually based in Virginia.

Wednesday, his website dedicated to changing the laws on how trailers are secured to trucks turned its attention right here to Palm Springs.

Log onto dangeroustrailers.org and you can’t miss image after image of the accident on Indian Canyon, most of them are KESQ pictures.

The caption says the government is trying to stop us from telling the truth. What is the truth?

We asked site creator Ron Melancon.

?Immediately when I saw it come through Google, I thought it was another accident totally preventable,? he told us by phone. ?Had we had a nationwide standard for trailers and safety chains.

Melancon says the standard isn’t there, and it’s costing lives.

More than 15,000 lives have been lost in these kinds of accidents since 1975.

He claims if the problem was in the backseat of the car, reaction might be different.

?If a child safety seat kept failing, and the seat belt hitches kept failing, we would be outraged as consumers,? he said.

So where is the outrage now?

On his site, Melancon runs through case after case detailing how cables and chains were up to state standards, but those weren’t enough.

One KESQ.com visitor took issue with his accusations that the trailer in Palm Springs wasn’t hitched legally.

They wrote: ?This trailer was not in any violation. All safety procedures were followed. Every fail safe, failed. The break away cable did not do it’s job, the cable severed, chains snapped, loads were proper weights. It was a “perfect storm”

?The solution would be a national standard,? Melancon said. ?So a trailer in California would have the same standard as a trailer in Virginia.?

Another interesting note, if a vehicle with a trailer from another state drives into California they don’t necessarily have to abide by California’s rules, which are among the toughest in the nation.

Police are investigating now to see if the vehicle involved in the Palm Springs accident was a subcontractor from another state, or based here.