i-35 mm 47 oklahoma semi vs school bus.

Homicide eyed in deadly Oklahoma bus crash, killing 4 college softball players

"It was not clear why the northbound 18-wheel tractor-trailer lurched across the median into the southbound lanes."

I've read several articles since this took place yet in none of the article there's been nothing said for the reason they are investigating it as a homicide. Why would they even say that when its not clear what happened? Are they hoping by saying this it will influence the police, investigating team, to charge a truck driver with homicide?

 

Well, they are waiting for the truckers Toxicology report to come back. If he was under the influence, he is totally Screwed as well as he
should be, and if so, yea you will see me hopping on the Bandwagon to SLAM Him!

 

Says the driver was 53 years old, I wonder if he has been driving for years or for months. I think the term homicide is premature, unless they found something real fast. Logs, alcohol, drugs? I hope for all involved, this was just a tragic accident.

 

Regarding the reporting about this as a homicide investigation, I think that's just the media amping up the noise. In reality the quote was they are treating this "like a homicide". In other words they are going about the investigation with all the care and detail as if it had been a homicide. I think any time a professional driver is involved in a fatal collision it is standard procedure to turn over every leaf, including log books, vehicle maintenance, alcohol and drug testing, etc. If anything is out of place then charges will follow, what those charges may be will depend on what they find.

What's odd to me is that the truck driver reportedly drove another mile down the road the wrong way before ending up in the trees. If this is a case of the driver suffering a heart attack or similar medical emergency, then that might explain what happened. Otherwise it doesn't look good for either the driver or the company.

My heart and prayers are with ALL involved.

 

He gave a statement at the scene. So that tells me if was not a heart attack... In the latest report, they driver, told investigators he was distracted by something in the cab?????? What that means is anyone guess at this point.. The article goes on to say, the investigators do not necessary believe his story....

 

This evenings news said the truckers statement was he reached for a Drink and was distracted. The reconstruction team stated "There were no skids marks or any evidence of evasive action to correct the path of the truck"

 

IMOP he fell asleep.

 

This Washington Post article has more details, and a picture of the remnants of the front of the truck.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...12ed26-46b1-11e4-8042-aaff1640082e_story.html

The truck was northbound and went straight instead of taking a gentle curve to the right. The truck traveled in a straight line for 820 feet as it crossed the grass median. After the truck collided with the bus it continued on a straight line for another 300 feet before going down into trees and came to a stop by hitting a tree.

Other articles note the driver was distracted reaching for a drink. If that is true then the scenario I see is the driver may not have been wearing a seat belt, possibly reaching for a drink in the back of the cab in his cooler, and lost his position to be able to control the truck as soon as it started going through a bumpy ride in the median. With the cruise control on his best shot to stop the truck would be to apply the brakes, but if you are already ejected from the seat in a bucking cab you don't have the ability to get your foot to the pedal.

My bet is the investigation will find the cruise control was set and never disengaged. I have no idea whether the black box will also be able to tell whether the seat belt was on. My guess is it was not and was a contributing cause to the collision.

 

I used to be neighbors with the lead OHP investigator for the SE OK sector (Hampton) and I can tell you he is a good and fair man and does not have any sort of animosity for truckers. And unless there were drugs or alcohol found in the cab, I suspect it was something like Lepton1 layed out that would lead to a negligent homocide charge at the least if it were something along those lines. And knowing Hampton like I know him, he would not make such a statement soon after the incident unless there was something known from the initial investigation or a statement from the driver at the scene that was painfully honest.