Death of truck driver linked to speeding, no warning signs for sharp road curve

A delivery truck driver was killed yesterday in a six-vehicle smashup in the SRP tunnel in Cebu City.

His Elf pickup, loaded with soft drink cases, sped into the subway  past 5 p.m., turned a sharp curve and hit the rear of another truck, setting off a collision, one after another, of vehicles caught in rush hour traffic.

At the accident site, Cebu City Police chief Ramon Melvin Buenafe said he noticed there were no hazard signs or markings in the 1.2-kilometer tunnel to warn drivers of the blind curve in the downward sloping road of the subway.

The rain had also left the road wet and slippery, he said.

It was the first accident of this magnitude in the SRP tunnel, which was opened in August last year.

The four-lane tunnel, designed by Japanese engineers and built by contractor Kajima Corp., runs under the Plaza Independencia as part of the road network of the coastal road of the South Road Properties (SRP).

The coastal road is heavily used as the shortest, traffic-free route between Cebu City and Talisay City.

The impact of the crash damaged two sports utility vehicles, a multicab, a truck and a tricycle in one of two north-bound lanes heading for the Cebu City exit.

The vehicles were all in front of the soft drink delivery truck.

The 40-year-old driver, Florindo Piña of Talisay City, was initially known only as “Mr. X” at the Cebu City Medical Center where he was taken.  He had no driver’s license or other identification on him when paramedics  pulled the victim out from the wreckage.

Several witnesses said the truck was speeding beyond the 60-kilometer-per-hour limit.

Tricycle delivery driver Reynante Trasona said he heard the screech of brakes just before the crash.

Motorists said the truck driver apparently didn’t realize there were several vehicles ahead until he turned the sharp curve in the tunnel.  By then it was too late for him to hit the brakes.

Several rescue units came including the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF), the Bureau of Fire Department, members of the Cebu City Risk Reduction Management Council (CCRMC), and rescue units of barangay Sto. Niño.

Several vehicles were stuck in the tunnel after the accident, causing a buildup of smog and car fumes.

The tunnel’s exhaust or ventilation system was not functioning.  It took a call from Alvin Santillana, head of the city’s disaster control council, to the tunnel administrator to turn on the system.

“If they were saving on electricity, it was useless,” Santillana told Cebu Daily News.

He said the management of the tunnel hasn’t been turned over yet to the Cebu City government and that this was something the management has to address.

Before the tunnel was opened last year, the city government made sure it had complete ventilation, telephone system, ample lighting and security cameras.