BURBANK, Wash. — It was one of the deadliest crashes in decades.
Five farm workers were killed in a head-on collision along Highway 124 and a man was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide in September of 2002.
The tragedy sparked change in Washington's Mid-Columbia Valley.
"Even though the Hispanic community represented a small portion of the Columbia Basin, they represented nearly 50% of fatal collisions, and that was unacceptable for the [Washington] State Patrol," said Trooper Daniel Mosqueda.
Mosqueda is part of the ongoing work to end DUI and deadly crashes among all Washingtonians. He's also El Protector, which means his primary focus is on providing public education through dialogue with the Hispanic and Latino communities, rather than focusing on specific enforcement measures.
In 2003, the El Protector program was launched to address the increased concerns of Hispanic and Latino surnamed drivers, according to the Washington State Patrol (WSP).
The El Protector program places special emphasis on people with limited English-speaking abilities. The bilingual and bicultural program provides public education
The program officially began on Feb. 20, 2003, at a community meeting held in Burbank, Wash. A group of Hispanic and Latino community leaders, state and local law enforcement officials, and members of state and national traffic safety organizations were in attendance that evening. According to the WSP, the agency led a presentation that included stats from all fatality and felony collisions in 2003. During the meeting, there was an overwhelmingly positive response and commitment from attendees to take action on the issue.
As a bilingual trooper and current El Protector – it’s Mosqueda’s mission to lower the number of felony and fatal crashes involving Hispanic and Latino drivers and occupants. The number of fatal collisions involving the Hispanic community in the Columbia Basin has fallen from nearly 50% to 36% since the program launched 20 years ago. Mosqueda told KING 5 there was a time about mid-way through the program's inception that the El Protector was only able to dedicate part-time efforts due to trooper shortages. While WSP is still working to have an adequate number of troopers across the state - Mosqueda said leadership quickly realized that having the El Protector dedicate full-time efforts was crucial to the program's success.
Mosqueda was born and raised in Pasco. He is a 13-year veteran of the WSP. He is currently assigned to District Three in Kennewick and primarily works traffic enforcement in Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla Counties.
He was certified as a Drug Recognition Expert in 2018 and became a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician in 2019. He was assigned to the WSP Aggressive Driving Apprehension Team in 2018 until his selection as coordinator for the El Protector program in January 2019.
The ultimate goal of the program is for DUI and deadly crash numbers to go down across the board for everyone.
"At the end of the day, if you are a driver on the road, regardless of your background, we want you to be safe," Mosqueda said. "We don’t want to see people getting into collisions. We don’t want to see fatality wrecks or people distracted."
Mosqueda said he regularly checks in with past El Protector troopers including the first-ever El Protector.
Rey Gomez, a now-retired WSP trooper, was the original El Protector. He had been on patrol for 25 years when he was assigned to lead the new program from 2003 to 2005.
“Having grown up as a migrant worker myself, I felt a connection to start something that’s never been done before," said Gomez in a PSA about the program. "I felt honored. To promote this program - what a blessing.”
To get driver safety messages out - Mosqueda is everywhere.
On top of regular local radio and TV segments – he’s on social media regularly posting bilingual road safety reminders.
Mosqueda and fellow troopers also make time to meet with kids and teens who will be future drivers one day.
El Protector reaches huge crowds at one time through bilingual seminars. He says both language and cultural barriers may be part of why drivers are unfamiliar with local laws or other road safety measures.
"There is local Hispanic community members that are for example, living in the Tri-Cities, there is your migrant agricultural workers that may come up from other parts of the country and follow the crop harvest, and there’s also contracted workers where they come from other countries, they come to Washington, specifically to work on a contract," Mosqueda explained.
With pride, Mosqueda said his Mexican heritage and his family's experience in agricultural work allowed him to build trust within Hispanic and Latino communities.
"It’s very cool to see that where that barrier is just completely gone," Mosqueda said.
With the majority of Mosqueda’s work including community outreach - it’s possible he’s crossed paths with a future trooper or even a future El Protector.
"The last event that I remembered, there’s a little boy of that came up to me and he looked at me he says, 'Are you really trooper?'" Mosqueda said. "I said, ‘Absolutely and you can be one too, right?’"
Watch more of KING 5's Hispanic Heritage Month coverage: