Death-plunge trucker's family files claim

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Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(04-28) 17:34 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- An attorney for the family of a 56-year-old truck driver who plummeted from the upper deck of the Bay Bridge in November filed a claim against Caltrans on Wednesday, saying there weren't adequate warning signs alerting drivers to the bridge's new S-curve.

Tahir Sheikh Fakhar of Hayward died when his truck went over the northern side of the S-curve at 3:30 a.m. Nov. 9. California Highway Patrol investigators said they believed Fakhar was driving 10 mph over the 40 mph speed limit as he approached the curve, which had opened Sept. 8 as part of the eastern span replacement project.

The attorney for Fakhar's family, Lewis Van Blois, said it was the first time the veteran trucker had driven over the bridge since the curve was installed. There had been 43 accidents on the curve before Fakhar's, but none was fatal.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/28/BAHO1D6IKH.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea