WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Dodge Ram truck crashed into a guardrail, just as Caltrans engineers planned.

At a cost of a $250,000, the crash at this West Sacramento test track would be an expensive ride. But it’s a necessary one for safety.

Caltrans engineers have been taking a good, hard look at existing bridge rails, realizing they need to upgrade to save lives and protect their work crews.

They found that out the hard way when an out of control driver bounced off a median rail, came across three lanes of traffic, and slammed into Caltrans worker Mark Balsi. He lost a leg in the accident, but he helped Caltrans gain a new footing with an innovation called the Balsi Beam.

The beam works as a guardrail attached to a truck. It protects workers from wayward cars, like the one that injured Balsi.

Like the bridge rail idea, the Balsi Beam had to face the crash course. Now there are five Balsi Beams in use throughout the state.

California has the only state department in the country with its own crash-test unit. Caltrans has been testing nearly everything we see on our roads and highways since the 1950s.

After months of work behind the scenes—from research on the road to simulations on the computer—thousands of hours of manpower boil down to one brief moment of impact.

The truck was aimed for the bridge at a maximum speed of 62 miles per hour. A change in wind speed or an obstacle suddenly entering the test road would kill the test.

Combined with CBS13’s equipment, more than a dozen cameras captured every angle of the crash. Wires on the pavement and in the truck captured data sent to a computer for later analysis.

From the naked eye, the test looked like it went well. The vehicle didn’t roll, the colored tires hit where Caltrans testers were shooting for, and most importantly, the crash looked survivable.

From here, every color, every curve, and every dent of the test vehicle will be analyzed to verify the test was successful.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A man who called 911 more than 100 times in one month says he’s not going to stop until his concerns are heard.

Jimmy Shao keeps a log book of every 911 call he’s made. So many that he boasts he’s probably set a world record.

He doesn’t believe he’s wasting the time of emergency responders because he has an emergency of his own: Shao believes he’s being watched by shadowy government authorities.

He claims to believe his body is controlled by satellites.

“I yell and I scream, ‘Stop it, I don’t need this,’ but they never listen.”

Sacramento Police say he’s ignored warnings to stop calling over and over, so they arrested him for 911 abuse.

“That this person made over 100 calls over a month’s time—60 of them came into Sac PD dispatch—that is alarming,” said officer Michele Gigante.

Every 911 call made inside Sacramento city limits is answered by the CHP. Many are then transferred to the Sacramento Police communications center. Dispatchers take time to evaluate every call, even the ones that don’t make any sense.

“We know he’s tying up resources that are desperately needed by other citizens in our community,” said Jena Swafford with the police department.

Fresh out of jail, Shao promises he isn’t done dialing 911, “until Congress starts an investigation.”

ELK GROVE (CBS13) — Cecil Houston’s family was among the first to drive through the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza after it got rid of its toll takers. Houston recalls the weekend of March 30, no one was there to take his money.

“It said do not slow. Go through. No tolls being taken this weekend,” he recalls.

Drivers who don’t prepay their tolls online or have Fastrak are now billed based on their license plate number and address on record at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Fast Forward more than a month, and Cecil says the first thing he received in the mail was a notice of toll evasion which added a $25 fine to the $6 toll.

“I said, ‘For what?’ There was no toll taker.”

Golden Gate Bridge spokesperson Mary Currie claims drivers only get a toll violation if they don’t pay the initial invoice mailed out. Cecil insists he never got one.

“We open every piece of mail that has our names on it,” he said.

Currie says between 250 and 300 customers have complained they didn’t get an invoice out of nearly 216,000 mailed out, which she says represents .0013 percent of all customers. She says it’s possible people are throwing them out thinking they are junk mail. The toll invoices are sent out in envelopes that say “Pay By Plate”. They do not state anywhere they’re for a Golden Gate Bridge toll. Bridge management is considering making a change.

“If we have to modify this envelope to make it more clear and to clarify things for the customer, then we will,” she said.

After Cecil contacted the customer service number, they reduced what he owes to the original toll.

“If it’s something we need to pay, we’ll pay it. Six bucks is not a lot of money.”

To see the various way you can now pay your Golden Gate Bridge tolls, click here.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) — A babysitter is behind bars after a 3-year-old girl in her care was found wandering the streets.

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputies say Z’amila is lucky to be OK after deputies say her babysitter, Chavonne Jackson, put her in danger and didn’t seem to care.

Courtney Clark and Brittany Hall say it was Z’amila who came knocking on the door in south Sacramento County.

Clark brought her around, knocking on doors. After hours, no one claimed to know the child, so the called the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

Z’amila’s mom says it was only when she returned to pick up her daughter that Jackson tell her she was missing. Deputies say Jackson made no effort to look for her, instead cooking a meal.

“All I could think about was some sicko getting my daughter.”

Mom called deputies who said her daughter was safe.

STOCKTON (CBS13) — Neighbors on a Stockton street are blaming speeding drivers for a recent rash of crashes, the latest leaving one dead and sending three others to the hospital.

Police say so far this year, there have been almost a dozen accidents Pershing Avenue between Brookside Road and Country Club Drive.

Whether the result of a DUI or speeding drivers, the crashes are hitting too close to home for residents.

“We have a fence out here. One car came over, went through the first fence and ended up in the front yard,” said Jim Grillo. “It happens all the time and seems to be getting worse and worse.”

The same thing almost happened last night when a driver slammed into a tree.

“All of a sudden, police showed up,” said Buck Sawyer. “Luckily the gate was here, or our house would have been taken out.”

The speed limit is 30 miles an hour, but neighbors suspect some drivers head over the bridge faster than what’s posted.

We asked the city of Stockton if it has received safety complaints or if traffic officials are looking into the stretch of road, but a spokeswoman said she could not provide answers today.

Neighbors would like to see a stoplight or more.

“The bridge is built on a curve that comes right down into the two houses,” Grillo said. “Maybe if there were some speed bumps on the bridge with signs, at least it would slow people down.

Tuesday’s deadly crash is still under investigation with no word on the cause.

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — Someone is targeting cedar trees and Robert Dietz isn’t happy about it.

The El Dorado County resident has taken extreme measures against the person cutting down cedar trees including placing boobie traps and hidden cameras nearby.

The trees he said, were planted about 25 years ago to keep out noise from busy Lotus Road.

He finally caught the tree chopper in action with an infared camera.

“This person made sure these trees were killed and they didn’t grow back,” Dietz said.

He says the serial tree killer has been to his property three times in the last four months, late at night to chop down his trees.

“Only incense cedars. Not deodar cedars. Not pine trees. Not oak trees. It’s this tree.”

Even more puzzling, Dietz says the serial chopper doesn’t take the trees he cuts. Instead, he tosses them into a nearby pond like they’re garbage.

“They are strong enough to pick a 10-foot tree up and throw it from this road into the pond,” he said. “They just cut them down just to cut them down.”

He says other properties along Lotus Road have seen the same thing happen to their cedar trees. He’s now hoping this video will lead to an arrest and some relief.

Robert says he’ll keep replanting and replacing these trees until he’s too old or he runs out of money. He’s offering a $500 reward for anyone with information leading to an arrest.