Crash killed 9, including 7 kids, in Fresno County. Advocates call for alcohol sensor in cars

A federal report on a horrific Fresno County crash that killed seven children and two adults recommends manufacturers begin including blood alcohol monitoring systems in all new cars.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation could reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes, one of the biggest causes of highway deaths in the U.S.

The report was released Tuesday for the DUI crash from New Year’s Day 2021 near Avenal. The California Highway Patrol said a drunken driver’s blood alcohol content was 0.21% when he crashed head-on into a truck carrying eight Coalinga family members, including seven children 6 to 15 years old.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, who leads the federal safety advocacy panel, said technologies exist that can save lives.

“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash — just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the U.S. annually,” she said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said nearly 43,000 people were killed in roadway deaths last year, which was the most in the past 16 years.

The NTSB does not have regulatory authority, but its recommendation is meant to put pressure on federal regulators, according to Homendy. The soonest the recommendation could be put into practice would be three years.

The NTSB also recommends that cars monitor drivers to ensure they are alert, noting that many newer cars have cameras pointed at drivers. Advocates note that the cameras could also help during medical emergencies or for exhausted drivers.

The agency and a group of 16 automakers have been jointly funding research on alcohol monitoring since 2008, forming a group called Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety.

The group has hired a Swedish company to research technology that would automatically test a driver’s breath for alcohol and stop a vehicle from moving if the driver is impaired, said Jake McCook, spokesman for the group. The sensor check’s a driver’s breath without them having to blow into a tube.

Other companies are developing a sensor that uses a driver’s fingertips.

Once the technology is ready, it would take years for it to be in most of the roughly 280 million vehicles on U.S. roads.

In 2020, the most recent figures available, 11,654 people died in alcohol-related crashes, according to NHTSA data. That’s about 30% of all U.S. traffic deaths, and a 14% increase over 2019 figures, the last full year before the coronavirus pandemic, the NTSB said.

Restaurant and beverage trade groups have opposed detection devices, saying it would leave motorists wondering whether their car would start after they drink a glass of wine with dinner, the LA Times reported. Those groups have supported devices only for repeat DUI offenders.

About a third of U.S. states require first-time DUI offenders to install devices.

The Fresno County crash that killed seven children

When CHP officers came upon the scene of the head-on collision about 8 p.m. New Year’s Day 2021, both the truck and SUV were fully engulfed in flames, according to officers.

CHP said Daniel Luna, 28, left a New Year’s party in an SUV after he had been drinking. He drove south on Highway 33 south of Sutter Avenue before his car left the roadway and he over-corrected into the path of the truck carrying the eight relatives.

The Coalinga family included Gabriela Pulido, 34, (mother of the children with the last name of Pulido. The other children were her relatives); Giada Pulido, 15; Brooke Pulido, 14; Jonah Pulido-Verdin, 11; Mia Pulido, 8; Daniella Ayala-Verdin, 11; Camilla Ayala, 8; and Anthony Verdin-Ayala, 6.

The family was returning from a day trip to Pismo Beach, the report said. The truck caught fire quickly after the crash and bystanders could not get to anyone inside.

Luna was traveling at nearly 100 mph, the report said.

He also tested positive for marijuana use, but investigators said they could not determine if he had used cannabis that night or if the test detected long-term use.

Juan Pulido, 37, whose wife and four children were killed in the crash, said he’s happy the NTSB is pushing for alcohol monitoring because it could stop another person from losing loved ones. “It’s something that their families have to live with,” he said. “It doesn’t go away tomorrow.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.