The trucker who was responsible for the deaths of a family of four back in late 2012 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. He pled no contest to four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular homicide involving an unborn child, in exchange for which the prosecution dropped manslaughter charges.
The 37-year-old driver, Josef Slezak, was more than three hours over his HOS limit when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel and drove his rig into a line of stopped vehicles at 75 miles per hour. The two cars in front of him were occupied by the Schmidt family. The cars were slammed together and then forced under the trailer of the truck in front of them.
Traffic had come to a standstill when a truck had broken down and its driver had failed to pull it to the side of the road before stopping.
Despite dodging four additional manslaughter charges, Slezak will still serve 20 years in prison. He received the maximum allowable penalties for all the other charges leveled against him.
Next Story: Week Long Inspection Blitz Starts Sunday Nationwide
Source: abc, thetruckersreport
It sucks they gave him the max.. but this goes to show u the feds are not playing about the HOS. He was made an example out of. And to the family.. may God be with u for having to go through that tragic lose.
Sorry he got the Max? You kidding me? THREE HOURS OVER HIS LOG? Oh I guess that was just a mistake, right? He SHOULD be made an example of! I’m a driver myself too just so you don’t think I’m another anti-driver four-wheeler. Like the rules or not, they are there for a reason, and this was a great example of a good reason. I would have felt bad for the driver had he NOT been over his log and he got put away, but I have absolutely NO sympathy for an outlaw trucker who played the game and lost. A family is dead because he put the importance of his load above the lives of others. I’m sure the driver regrets his actions, but it’s a little too late now.
So hypothetically, if he was under on his logs and causes a fatal accident (which happens more often)… this would have been alright?
Sorry, logs are pretty much a scam… if you don’t take your 30 minute break or log in one minute before your 10 hour break is up (7 csa points) does that mean your a bigger traffic menace than if you were on a drunken cocaine binge (5 csa points)? According to the FMCSA it does. By the way, it turns out most of the statistics they were using were fraudulent- not really shocking.
Not making light of it, but the new rules haven’t really reduced accidents either… not that there were really that many to begin with.
What sucks isn’t that he got the max, but the state decided to let him plea down. He should rot in jail for the rest of his life. Guys like this are the reason this industry is regulated with a iron fist.
I do feel bad I know what kind of pressure you can get put under
to stay on schedule do I follow the hos sometimes not always it’s safer to listen to my buddy and follow what it tells me
Half a story here. Was the driver a O.O. or was he a company driver? If he was a company driver I think his dispatcher ought to sharing the cell with him and even perhaps the companys safety man as well as the CEO.
It doesn’t suck that the driver got the max. The driver should have never been on the road at that hour and that family would still be alive. It sucks that the entire family is gone!
What “family”???? He killed them ALL..
I think it sux that you think it sux he got the maximum. 20 years is not enough for what he did. An entire family, including children, died a horrible and painful death because of this jackass. He should spend the rest of his life behind bars.
20 years? Dude should get life!
Absolutely correct!!
I dont believe he fell asleep. He did not speak English, therefore did not get a heads up on the stop traffic. If I remember right, there was an interpreter called to the scene so he could communicate
with the responding officers. What a shame..every driver in the USA should speak english.
Rose, it is a FEDERAL LAW that ALL drivers must be able to read, write AND SPEAK the English language sufficiently in order to communicate with officials and law enforcement. The company that employed him should be held responsible as well for disobeying a FEDERAL law!
Kevin, as far as I know and believe you must be able to read and write english to get the commercial license but not for a regular car license. I agree with you about the company executives of the trucking company should also be held guilty on the same charges as the driver. But, I believe it should be taken even further than than your suggestion, being it is illegal for the driver to have been able to get his commercial license I totally believe that the person or persons at the DMV where he was given his license should be given the same prison sentence as the driver. If the DA doesn’t have the fairness to do that then at the very least that DMV employee should be fired.
AMEN!
The Company was probably scared to not hire him for his lack of Communications, Due to the fact that the Oboma Administration has taken Companys to federal Court over this issue, These people have more rights than English Speaking People.
You are so right! This guy knew enough English to get by. Bet he won’t fake not understanding Americanese in prison. I doubt the prison is going to give him an interpreter.
I know at least 40 drivers who don’t speak basic English but have CDL by copying the tests. They drive cross country and Canada. Mexicans, Indians, Latinos, Middle-eastern, Eastern-block countries, African sub-continent, Asians etc. Here in California a DMV worker was busted for selling CDL’s. He made millions before someone ratted him out. He lost his job and did sometime than probation—white collar crime pays.
Rose, I don’t remember the details of the original report. My dad is a truck driver. So, he and I have talked for hours on different issues of trucking. I just wanted to comment on a portion of your comment. “..every driver in the USA should speak english.” They are supposed to speak and understand english. For some reason, it doesn’t work that way.
At one time I thought that was required to get a CDL in this country? What happened with that?
Same here, thought it was a DOT regulation for a driver to read and have a working understanding of English
You DO need a CDL to drive a truck like that. It should not matter the driver doesn’t speak English! If he had been paying attention to the traffic around him, he would have seen there was cars stopped ahead. Most large companies now have the electronic logs so you can’t drive more than DOT allowable hours. He either fell asleep or was texting or some other stupid distraction when he should have been keeping his eyes on the road!
The drivers that are on electronic log still can go over their HOS. The electronic log doesn’t shut their truck down. And most of the time when the company gets an alert that the driver is over his hours, they just call the driver and tell him to pull over and watch closer from then on. Drivers should not be allowed if they don’t know how to read, write, speak our language but it doesn’t work like that, sadly. And then of course if he was on paper logs, he most likely had two sets and wasn’t able to update and get rid of evidence before the wreck. Yes very illegal but it does happen all the time. Also, yes I believe he should have been given time for this, however, I also feel that if he worked for a company, they should have to share in the punishment as well for hiring a driver that couldn’t understand out language. I feel so badly for the families that lost loved ones, it was a terrible tragedy. On another level, the drivers out there that are driving within regulations and doing the right thing really get a bad wrap and suffer because of drivers like this. So many regulations are being put on drivers and with that and the low rates and the cost of fuel, it is making it almost impossible for a driver to earn a good living. And everything you use in your life has been on a truck at some point or another.
And his language doesn’t have anything to do with traffic being at a halt. I can see that maybe a DOT sign may have had a message on it and he comes over a hill or something right at the tail of it without prior knowledge. I still think it mainly had something to do with him falling asleep or not paying attention at all. Maybe texting or looking at his map, etc. But it still brings up the fact that he shouldn’t have been given a CDL not capable of reading, writing and speaking English. He was 100% at fault. When something like this happens, it is not an accident. If his brakes would have failed, that is an accident. Again I feel that the company he worked for should be held accountable regardless for hiring no habla English
“no habla English”?
That’s neither good English nor good Spanish. Inasmuch as his name was “Josef Slezak”, I’m betting Spanish wasn’t his first language either.
Federal requires being able to read,write& speak ENGLISH well enough to communicate with officers in order to get a cdl.
Drive-Cam’s in every truck would solve the speculation on what happens in the cab of a truck prior to an accident. Totally unfortunate. Tell me I am wrong 75 mph is over the commercial truck speed limit?
There is no national truck driving speed limit.
Speed limits are determined by States.
He didn’t speak English therefore he didn’t see all the stopped vehicles in front of him. That makes sense.
So, there is a language of stopped traffic? That’s probably the most moronic thing I’ve seen on the internet today.. and I just got off of Facebook so that’s a pretty lofty task.. CONGRATS!
Steve, that’s exactly what I was thinking…some people and their weird comments.
The reason they are tying that in is because they are assuming he would have heard about the traffic stop on his cb. The problem with that is a lot of drivers don’t keep their cb on all the time, myself included. you cant sit and listen to all the trash talk on it all day long without wanting to throw it out the window. Back in the day the cb was a vital tool in getting all kinds of warnings and updates of what’s ahead of you but sadly todays drivers have made it more of a problem than a tool to use.
not just drivers what about the aholes with the big bases and the loud mouths that just anoy people . gov fcc dont do there job and take theses bases down , but then theres anther problem when they do they just buy a new one and start up again .
I think you two are taking Georges post out of context. Georges post was sarcasm. Never once did he say or infer a “language of stopped traffic”. Perhaps if that’s what you saw in his post perhaps, you should step away from your truck and get you eyes checked. it would be scary having a hallucination fueled driver on the road.
^^^ my post was meant for steve and carmykle
HEY YOU IDIOT! if he would have had a cb and had it turned on & could understand english he would have known about the stopped traffic.
Nah, he’d probably hear one guy call another guy a retard. Then he’d hear the other guy threaten to kick his ass. Then they’d have to pick a place to fight. That’s what i usually hear at least…
You were there and say,heard the CB info is that what your saying
This has nothing to do with what language you speak! It has EVERYTHING to do with paying attention behind the wheel.
Just so the trolls don’t lose the jist of these comments, speaking and reading English is a requirement to hold a CDL. In this circumstance that ability had nothing to do with the outcome of the accident. However, this driver should not have been on the road in the first place! If the state licensing agencies, and the safety department/recruiting department of the hiring carrier did their jobs corrrectly these individuals would not be on the road in the first place! Does that abscondd the driver of fault? No! But some credit for the results need to be placed elsewhere as well!
Thank you Michele. to bad some of these comments don’t see that
So, one’s mother tongue dictates how good a driver they are? I guess that you shouldn’t be allowed to drive in any country where English isn’t the first language?
What an asinine comment
I think the point of the language issue is that if there was a DOT electronic sign giving warning of the traffic ahead and him not able to read and understand the sign. And yes, that is a major issue. If you are going to work in the US as a CDL driver then you need to be able to read, write and speak English, period. If he cant read English, how is he going to read and understand a permit or any other correspondence for his load? They don’t offer these things in multiple languages.
That, and by law you are required to observe all signs and safety warnings, if you cant read English how are you to know what the sign says or means? But yes he should have seen the traffic. if he was coming up over a hill or a blind corner, isn’t it your responsibility to proceed with caution?
Yes it can as there are many signs you need to read particularly ones that deal with height, weight, and load restrictions that are written in english as well as road closure notifications. These are very important because you cant simply do a u-turn in a rig on a normal road (you need a lot of space).
@ Adam, uh what? Obviously, you have no clue what the LEGAL requirements are in order to LEGALLY hold a CDL in the United States of America. So please, allow me to inform you. PART of the requirements are “one must be able to effectively communicate with emergency personnel, in the event of an emergency.” Not to mention, how does he (or she) communicate with the shippers and receivers?
If you are concerned with someone’s mothers tongue, perhaps you responded to the wrong article?
It’s unfortunate that Rose chose to connect his lack of English, which is NOT an irrelevant fact here, in such a ridiculously stupid way. The growing loss of a national language is not to be taken lightly in any context, especially one where people’s lives are at stake. While an inability to speak English in the United States obviously doesn’t play a direct role in causing someone to go to sleep when they shouldn’t, it DOES however contribute to a lessened ability to function well in American society. There are probably anti-discriminatory laws that disallow it, but if you ask me, lack of English knowledge would be a fully legitimate reason for an insurance company to charge a higher rate for auto insurance in the United States.
I agree whole-heartedly with your assertion. I used to work as a dispatcher for a small trucking firm in Central Valley California several years ago. Out of the 40 drivers (many were O/Os) only half of them could speak functional English. Out of those only 11-12 could read, and barely 5 could read and write in English. This company hired only Indians, Mexicans, Middle-Easterners from Yemen, Sudan, Somalia etc. Supposedly they all had California CDL. How did they get it? Moreover, many of those drivers were high or drunk coming in and going out. I don’t know how many times they would forget to check the refrigeration…that’s another story! Needless to say I quit after three months of brain-wrecking trying to give out directions and instructions.
And to beat the dead horse. In this country you have to speak english in order to get a CDL legally. Just like in commercial flying. Every commercial pilot speaks english no matter what country they originate from. Under an assumption, if that driver asked for an interpreter he was faking it to away with something.
All this hoopla about him not being able to read or understand the english language. From my experience, and I have driven for 23 years thus far, they do read and understand english. Although, whenever they think it benefits them they will play the dumb immigrant. Guess they think it will excuse them from guilt if they dont speak english. Also, they do have to be able to read, write, and understand english in order to get a CDL. Further, it is not the carriers responsibility to make sure he stays within the HOS requirements, nor are they guilty that he involved himself in a accident regardless of the circumstances. He did it all on his own, the company just hired him assuming he would stay legal and safe.
I have heard Indian drivers mocking law enforcement officers and joke about how they get away with all kinds of violations because they claim to speak “no English.” My ex was one of them.
Rose, I can’t make seem to make the connection between speaking English and not stopping. Do you mean someone should have told him stop in his language, or was he possibly blind also? Could you enlighten me here.
It doesn’t matter if he could speak english or not. He didn’t see the stopped vehicles, ran into them and killed a family. Has dang all to do with what language he spoke, just that he was not alert enough to drive properly. Lucky not to get manslaughter.
Not speaking and writing in english absolutely nothing to do with sleeping and this accident .Do you think english speaking person is so perfect,that will never have accidents at all?
Are you sure about yourself,that if you get the accident and kiled 4 people,you still can have your fluent english available ?Think about it…what a shame on you…
Thts a shame for the families
seems like everything is close to life in prison making me wonder why for a long time.
“..every driver in the USA should speak English.”
Actually, that is the law. You must be able to communicate in written and spoken English to qualify for a CDL in the United States. They should also go after whomever gave this dude his license.
You mean “every CDL driver in the USA…”?
The punks around here get less time in jail for killing someone for drugs
You break the law u have to deal with the punishment u receive. .
I agree with Rose — every driver in the USA should speak English. He should also be able to READ English. He should have at least the language skills of a 16 year old, since that’s the minimum driving age in this country. If a driver can’t communicate, he shouldn’t be behind the wheel.
And maybe if he can’t see stopped traffic ,or have enough good sense to stop when he is tired, maybe he shouldn’t be behind the wheel either. How about that?
Vance, id have to disagree with rose… This is my reason: doesn’t matter which country you are in and what language you know or don’t know… if you approach a hill and cant see over the other side or come around a corner you can see around, it is you responsibility as a drive, operator what ever you may wish to be called, to proceed with caution… while driving in clear weather and have visibility for days at 75 miles per hour and come upon fog and cant see much further then 10 feet in front of you continue to drive 75 miles per hour because its the speed limit? I think not! if you approach a blind corner or a hill you cant see over you approach with caution! if not your asking for something of this nature to happen. Just my .02
“… you can’t see around…”^
He took 4 lives, that should be his sentence!
Michelle you are so correct. Remove his license and let him deal with the deaths. Not speaking English is his fault, he got the raw end of the deal.
He did not get the raw end of the deal;the people that he killed got the raw end of the deal. geez
I’m just wondering if any one of you “commenters” here have bothered to look into this at all? According to the only report I could find…
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21889816/dead-familys-relatives-sue-trucker-neb-crash
This happened on Rt. 80 (doesn’t say East or West but doesn’t matter) near Potter NE about 40 miles from the WY border. (Potter is 38.8 miles). For anyone who doesn’t know this area, it’s flat and straight for at least thirty miles in either direction. So @Rose, with all due respect, whether he spoke English or not is irrelevant. You can SEE for at least 10 miles ahead. It’s two lanes with a shoulder only the right lane. So His guilt is without question.
The report claims the first driver who lost his breaks pulled off the road but not completely and the trailer was still in the road. OK, maybe that was an oops on his part but this isn’t exactly a high density, “bumper to bumper” section of highway and we just don’t know “why” the rig wasn’t “completely” off the road.
The first REAL culprit here “starts” with the second driver Johnson who, for whatever reason, couldn’t avoid the stopped truck “mostly off a TWO lane highway” and crashed into it causing a fire and killing himself. THIS is what now blocked BOTH lanes and stopped traffic completely. Had he not done that, traffic could have continued to move around the stopped truck.
The jerk crashing into the stopped traffic and killing these poor folks has ABSOLUTLY NO EXCUSE for it WHATSOEVER! Asleep, awake, English speaking or not this guy shouldn’t be on ANY road at ANYTIME. I agree with Rob, minimum LIFE would be too kind.
My heart and prayers go out to the family of the victims but I can’t agree with “ALL” the lawsuits being filed. First, the guy who broke down. Hey, trucks, cars, motorcycles break down all the time for no apparent reason. Maybe he did a good pre trip, maybe not. We just don’t know. But he DID try to get off the road and had his flashers on. So going after him OR his company seems just an emotional “knee jerk” reaction. Understandable but, not necessarily the right thing to do.
Next, the lawsuit against Johnson (now dead) is completely proper but, against his company for “providing him the truck to drive”??? Seriously?? I suppose if they (the company) had remote control of it maybe. PLEASE!!! Again, an emotional “knee jerk” reaction.
Then the JERK who crashed into them at 75 MPH. Yep, definitely a well deserved lawsuit there against HIM and ONLY him.
We really have to get away from this 1-800 lawsuit mentality and hold “just” those responsible accountable IMO.
I don’t know the particulars of the accident. But as a truck driver I can tell you if the driver lost his brakes and couldn’t get off the road. What that can mean is he lost his air which allows the brakes to be released. IF he lost his air then the brakes would have locked themselves up and thusly forcing the truck to a stop. That is possibly why the first truck couldn’t get off the road. I am not picking on anyone here, just explaining a fact of trucking. Air lines, like any device can and will fail at any given moment for any given reason.
I lost my brakes once going west on I-68 in W.V. I had just went past the run away truck ramp, went to apply the brakes and they went completely to the floor, by the time i got to the bottom of the steep hill the speedometer was bouncing on the pin past 85 mph. Mind you at the bottom of the hill is i believe a 45 mph warning, i was scared to death. The only thing that saved me is i was in eighth gear in a 9 speed transmission also the jake brake quit working on my way back from my trip so no luck there either . The company i worked for at that time were known for having bad equipment but i didn’t find out til after the fact.
No excuse for not getting his trailer off the road. If you’ve ever driven a big truck in that area, you would know better than to pull off the shoulder of the road. The dirt is like silt, and you will likely get stuck in the dirt. Unfortunately the roads don’t always have shoulders wide enough to safely pull your truck and trailer to the side of the road creating a dangerous situation.
On top of that drivers don’t always slow down even when they see a partially blocked lane.
We have a BINGO. Enough said.
I highly agree that 20 years is no where near enough. Althiugh I can’t agree with everything the parents are sueing for I do agree with a good portion of it. The driver who didn’t pull off to the side of the road of course should get charged for being an idiot; my reasoning for that term is simple I had an issue with my brakes failing once before.
I was heading down I40 west just coming down into Albuquerque my truck died and thankfully I knew how to read english signs so I was going down at 45 mph. As soon as it died I immediately tried to restart the truck while in gear but that failed so after only 5 seconds I made the call to find an off ramp and slow to stop. I checked my air pressure, threw on my flashers, annouced it over the cb and began scanning the road way, started to slow the truck down which took all of 15 to 20 seconds if that even and seen an exit and calmly removed myself from the road way on to the off ramp and stoped the truck.
If I could do that in my first 3 months in a Class 8 why couldn’t the first driver do that? So charged yes but sued no. Its all realitive but in the end we all know the real reason for the accident is the driver who slammed into the two cars and the stuck truck. But 20 years simply isn’t enough and only sueing the company doesnt go far enough. Because I am quite sure they knew he was running illegal if not they pushed him to do so. I would say at least 5 years is due for their role in this.
Your rendition is great, provided he had time to safely drive it off the road. I will admit we are all speculating as we dont know what actually happened to that drivers brakes. But what is he to do if say something on the roadway, or animal, un seen by him ripped out the air lines to the trailer. That leaves you with a full trailer to attempt to drag behind you with locked brakes. Therefore, I do not believe the broke down truck deserves anything, provided he did all he could to get it off the road.
By the way, that actually happened to me.
Scott Sr. you are comparing apples to oranges here… the operator that didn’t make it all the way off the highway lost his breaks, in your case you had your breaks, you engine died on you… like one operator has previously stated his breaks may have locked up on him and he was physically un able to get all the way over… shit happens! but for the other driver to slam into him causing a fire and killing himself in the process there’s no excuse for that… and how do we know that, that incident happened all the sudden people slam their breaks to stop for the accident and the 3rd driver couldn’t stop on time crashing into the 2 cars and slamming them under the trailer in front of them? the incident reports it all as a chain reaction… perhaps it was something that just happened so fast and the last driver and the 2 cars got the shaft here in this whole ordeal… we don’t have all the facts and time line of events here to put all the blame on the third operator of the big rig. we only know what the reporters have told us. maybe that’s why this guys lack of English is why he got the end of the deal that he had got. Just my thoughts after stepping back and looking at the OP and the secondary post another user has posted and put all together.
By law he is required to be able to read and speak English in order to even get a cdl. it plainly tells that in the FMCA hand book under 391.11 Subpart B section 2.
Just like every other job in the US , Companys are looking for cheap labor. I know of a company in Charlotte NC that hires drivers with DUIs and other driving violations but they are paid low wages. I doubt the driver in question understood the HOS regulation. You have to understand many immigrants come from countries with no type of regulations and work many hours a day. However if the driver was alert and scanning ahead he should have seen the problem ahead and slowed down. Sitting in a big truck gives you an extended look ahead. To many times i see car drives wait to they are on top of a problem before even slowing down. Its tragic no matter the issue when lives are loss. i was a driver for 25 years and saw many accidents. I would not want to be a driver now because of all the fast pace traffic.
You can’t get a CDL if you don’t understand the job. We as drivers are thoroughly tested and certified. That driver does not have any plausible excuses.
hang on now that could have happened to any of us. how many times has traffic stopped around a curve and you couldn’t see up ahead. it happens all the time with cars. just because it happened to a big truck the driver should go to prison for 20 years come on. the ATA should have stepped in on his behalf.
the man made a fatal mistake, makes no diference what nationality or what language, i’m sure he hurts inside just as bad as anyone else, i’ve been doing this for 30 years and i know you can fall asleep at any time, makes no difference how many hours you have been driving. god bless those who have lost their love ones. 20 years or any kind of punishment can never bring them back but it was an accident lets not judge the man on that. he made a mistake, we all do
This is another sad commentary to the deregulation, the brokers and big truck companies have dropped the standard of living of truck drivers to almost min wage. Paying by the mile should be outlawed, that guy was probably a new hire working for 19 cents a mile, and starving. I live in the L.A. and you should see the trucks running out of the Harbor, held together with duck tape and bailing wire, the brokers have pitted truckers against each other to the point of starvation. The owner operators and the new breed of “share cropper’s ” of the new century. They bust their butts, so some suit can make 200k a year, answering the phone and dispatching loads.
Isn’t California big on regulation and tough on enforcing them? Why more laws if the ones u have already aren’t even working?
if they properly put cameras on the rear of semi trailers he would of be more aware of whats going on aound so this accident might not have happened.
It’s not feasible to put cameras on the trailers. The additional costs of buying the equipment would be ruinous to trucking company’s.
Besides, if he had the camera behind his trailer what would it have done? absolutely nothing… it wouldn’t have stopped the other driver from slamming into him… I can see it now… “oh s%&t he has a camera on the back of his trailer don’t hit him… on the other end drivers is looking at the camera sees this other truck coming for him, what can he do? NOTHING, but panic and tense up and get hurt even more. Besides that’s another useless piece of equipment taking up cab space and another distraction for the distracted operator.
All of you say nothing but horrible things about the poor driver. He is going to spend almost rest of his life in prison for TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING WITH MINIMUM WAGE JOB ! He is not a killer ! He DID NOT intent to kill anybody ! THAT WAS A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT AND UNFORTUNATELY HE WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME. All of you are trying to be saint and perfect. Nobody admites to things you were doing while driving that many times could cause eqaly serious outcome but you had just way more luck than the poor driver. It is very easy to judge others and not seeing own crap. Your comments remind me everyday in what kind of world we live. Yes I do feel sorry for the family who died but IT WAS AN ACCIDENT ! In this situation I sympatize way more with the driver. His live that unfortunately he has got to keep is completely ruined and will never be restored. I am a truck driver fighting everyday hard just to survive as a behind the wheel slave. Watch out you wanderfull good hearted people because tomorow article like this one can be about you. Best wishes to the driver. Stay strong brother I know you DID NOT wanted to hurt anybody. I would have no symathy if he was on drugs or drunk.
first of all big he wasnt at the wrong place at wrong time . becuse if he would of stoped and sleep when his logs ran out then he would of NOT been there, and we wouldnt be talking about this . so it wasnt a accdent it was murder ! and he shoud of gotten life + . and just so u know were i am coming from been driveing sence 1988 had one accdent my falt 1992 and been accdent free and no moveing violations and have over 1 million miles acc free.
Big Russian, lets not get distracted here… DRIVING is a PRIVILAGE and RESPOSIBILITY… its your responsibility to pay attention to what’s going on in front of you, its your responsibility to maintain focus on the road… yes most drivers will divert their attention to a cell phone, radio, etc… but how can you surmount all of this to luck of not getting into an accident… no one cares that you just looked down for a split second to change a radio station, look at the time, or whatever it is… that’s the number one thing people say when involved in an accident… “I just looked down to see what time is, and I looked up and the car in front of me was stopped…” no one here is trying to be a saint or point fingers…. but please remember DRIVING IS A RESONSIBILITY. Checking what time it is, checking your make up, checking your cell phone can all wait. you not only put yourself at danger, but the others around you as well… when driving there are no little mistakes, its those little, tiny, seemed so harmless mistakes that cause lives… and you don’t realize it till it hits home with you.
damn I cant spell… meh oh well I hope my point is conveyed… I can spell I just get ahead of myself typing and fail to proof read.
Right on!
Nobody should get time for accidentally killing anybody in a car accident unless it was a DWI. Thats why they are called accidents.
Are you mentally retarded Jeff? no pun intended… only if its a DWI??? so a woman driving down the road visor down looking into the mirror putting her makeup on runs someone over in a cross walk shouldn’t get time just because she is sober? or a guy talking on his cell phone smoking a cigarette and eating a sandwich while trying to find some good road tunes slams into a car stopped at a red light killing the occupants of the vehicle, he shouldn’t get time either just because he wasn’t under the influence? get out of here with that nonsense.
i been running a camera on my trailers for 2.5 yrs & in the last 1/2 yrs went wireless meaning its much easier to have a security camera unlike the 2 years running an illegal underside wire . a security camera does just that helps protect and in this case his freedom.
The law tom states from cdl hand book is not a law it is a rule the english language is required to the point that you must be able to read write and communicate the english language efficiently to under stand and communicate with officials I know the cdl hand book is a guide to all rules and regulations with in this industry also there is no federal law requiring english as the official language to speak in the unted states the constitution by the 5th amendment allows fredom of speach but doesnot state what languge to speak
As tragic as the accident was, we really don’t control of when we leave this earth. The Book of Job tells me that we are not going to live one day more or one day less than GOD has planned for us. That’s not insensitive, just the truth. Job 14:5
The script is written.
sounds like, snake oil, hog wash, hearsay to me… and no I’m not a devil worshipper… I have faith and believe in god. but in no way do I believe he has plans for all of us.
if he has plans for all of us, this seems like some shitty plans for these folks. don’t you think? and don’t say well it happened for a reason, because you know and I know and we all know its nonsense… that’s a response I expect from a 5 year old.
Well, just because God has plans for all of us does not mean it includes stuff like this. Lets not forget this was due to human error not God’s error.
His state drivers license office is the one responsible for his lack of English.
He’d been better off defrauding hundreds of innocent folks out of their life’s savings. Same penalty, probably less. Did he have a record? This was excessive especially if there’s no chance of parole. To bad he wasn’t retired NFL player. He’d got off scott free. Gonna get worse. Sorry folks. Granted it’s bad but there really are two sides.
If the FEDS worry so much about speaking English to get a CDL why do they have CDL manuals in Spanish.
On the language issue. That seems to be the hot topic. This driver had to have shown sufficient proficiency in the English language in order to obtain his cdl. He must have demonstrated that when he got the job. It seems obvious to me then, that he lied to the authorities at the scene of the accident about that ability.
The real issue here is,a young family all lost their lives because a moron wasn’t paying attention, and that’s what we should be focused on here. Not what language the driver speaks. Sadly, if you look around a little bit more, you will notice all kinds of distracted driving being displayed by commercial drivers in vehicles of all types. If you are guilty of doing anything other than giving your driving the full attention it deserves, that you need to wake up and change your act, or find another line of work. Look what can happen. Don’t let this be you.
So disturbing on a personal level. My heart and prayers go out to all those involved.
Life??? Should be like the old west….hang him high!! Just imagine if it would have been one of your own family members killed. There is still to much tailgating and speeding, and definitely not paying attention. If you can’t read, speak or write English, you have no business on the road in the U.S in ANY vehicle.
in my opinion, its the 2nd driver that slammed into the truck halfway on the shoulder, is at fault here… that fact alone cause the traffic to back up…
Where did this happen? Where was the company he drove for from? If I had to guess out of a Chicago suburb , when they let idiots get cdl s yrs ago most of the US highways became death zones and anybody that is on here that has been driving more then 10 yrs know exactly who talking about !!! And the non English thing is bull , they don’t speak English or habla till the DOT man in a scale starts writing no English tickets and threatens oos then they understand to well out language, these “Chicago motor club” drives drive with foot through the floor board with disregard to whoever is in thier way with a phone to there face !!
What they’re not telling you is this jerk that got 20 years tested positive for Cocaine in his system as well.
He’d been up for 2 days straight think about that before you go defending this sorry SOB. HJ was a lot more than 3 hours over on his log.
Those who say we should kill him should consider that what he did was an accident while killing him would be deliberate. He should definitely be behind bars for the protection of the public, but eventually the only way to heal is through forgiveness. That’s not to say it will be easy.
After reading this post and comments along with another posters report on same accident I did some googling and found another article on this accident which states the initial accident with the big rig partially off the road and other driving plowing into him, was about 1 mile ahead of when the 3rd driver plowed into the family, he was driving anywhere from 13 to 15 hours non stop its not really clear on how long I have not seen one report of this guys being under the influence of any drugs, I’m sure if he was it would be all over the place. but here is the other article I found…
http://nebraskaradionetwork.com/2013/02/07/trucker-charged-in-i-80-traffic-crash-that-killed-family-keeps-quiet-in-court/
What needs to be done is start testing for persons with slow reflex actions or persons who can’t fit behind the wheel or can’t pickup their legs to push brake pedal
What almost none of you have mentioned is the level of stress he was probably under by every cog in the trucking business, dispatch, shipper, receiver. Not to mention that the HOS doesn’t work because it doesn’t allow for a 24 hour clock. So you can start your trip at a reasonable hour and end up in the same week driving at hours your body isn’t used to. Sure you can go to bed at 3 or 4 pm and get up and be legal at 1 am but how will your body react or yet even sleep. Yet we are still expected to make this all work. This guy obviously didn’t have enough alpha to say no, or was so worried about his job he still didn’t say no and now we have an accident with fatalities. Finally how many die from four wheelers every day and are they hung out to dry ? I’m glad to be out of this bunco business called trucking.
It’s not a matter of the poor boy being stressed. It’s this simple. He shouldn’t have been there 3 hours ago. He was breaking the law, over his hours and fatigued.
Trucking is not a bunco business. I have been in it for 34 years, and I have outgrown the outlaw stuff years ago. I run legal, get quite a bit done in my 70 allowable hours and sleep when it’s dark at night. HOS of service does work and your 34 hour reset factors in circadian rhythms.
We’re glad you’re out of the business as well. One less person whining.
What a horrible example of injustice. This man may have pushed past some arbitrary legal limits. He may have taken a job he wasn’t fully qualified for (not speaking english). But who in the heck do people think they are throwing a man and his family’s lives in prison 20 years for a mistake? HOS regulations are like any other regulation that people sometimes decide to break. Have you ever broken the speed limit? OH FOR SHAME! Speed regulations are set up to protect the public and save lives! And you dared to chance injuring or killing someone?
Some idiot prosecutor decided to make an example of this poor fellow so that he could get political points and win his next election or promotion. Now this man who did nothing worse than any of us has done and will do again will rot for the rest of his useful life, and his family will suffer. We live in an uncaring police state run by self promoting public officials. This sickens me.
God bless those who lost their lives in this accident, and the man and his family who will pay the price for our bloodlust. Someone once said “Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone”.
Well said –
I live in Miami – my friend’s mother was run over by a woman driving a speeding car at 7 am on a Sunday. Her sentence was, Florida law, 364 days in prison. If it had been 365 she would then have been a convicted felon. the 364 is most common.
Too bad you didn’t add that a better punishment to add is losing a license permanently, paying for the funeral costs and other expenses of the family by the driver’s himself. I watched her Canadian children struggle financially to pay to come get her body, pay up the lease for her apartment, pay to clear and clean it and then return her to Quebec City.
What kind of landlords are there in Miami, vultures? The deceased woman’s children weren’t obligated to pay or clean her apt. WOW! First off only a year for murdering an innocent person? Talk about injustice!People talk shyte about California but here’s what I witnessed just couple months ago. A 49 year old woman renter died suddenly in her apt and no one knew where her kids lived. It took the LL several weeks to find and notify them. He gave them two months rent-free after her funeral to vacate the apt which they did. His total loss was three and half months rent. The children live only 50-60 miles away. The LL is my cousin. Most Americans have totally lost sight of what made us great, and secondly WWJD?
What a tragic loss for everyone involved…
You guys that have made replies to this post should keep one thing in mind, This guy did kill and the law said it was NOT an accident.. When I am delivering 40 tons to a destination, I always drive with the fear of doing just this, thus I use every being in my soul to prevent it, I will not say I am a perfect driver, BUT I do obey the law, and I FIRMLY BELIEVE in the S.M.I.T.H. principal, it has saved me in the past, it will save me in the future…… This man said he did not speak English thinking America was full of idiots, I think IF he should be released, he should also be deported…….. My personal belief is HE SHOULD BE EXECUTED……. Their were NO winners here……… period MAY GOD HAVE MERCY IB THE SURVIVORS ….. Bless You the family members………
A semi-trailer truck is a large vehicle that consists of a towing engine, known as a tractor in the United States and truck in many other places, attached to one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. It is also known as a transport in Canada; prime mover in Australia; semi, tractor-trailer, big rig, or 18-wheeler in the United States; and articulated lorry, abbreviated artic, in Britain and Ireland For all who forget we speak American – not English.
Men and women driving long distance trucks, after their first year of it, become comfortable and begin to drive the tractor as if it were their personal car. Phoning friend, texting, changing music, stopping eats up time so from behind the wheel they reach for some item they think is in reach. I also witnessed drivers doing paperwork as they drive. Too many civilians blame lack of sleep when there are so many other distractions on the road.
Lets look BEYOND the driver….Chances are this guy was an independent owner-operator(Many eastern euro’s are)..Whom works Solely for freight brokers(whom are the scum of the transportastion process)……..That being said,
These eurogliders Take this freight from a broker and are given strict time;lines to deliver(Hence TQL,CH robinson and many others)………
These guys will KILL themselves to deliver on time..Yes they will.
So, I truly believe if these Brokers would stop ‘expecting’ so much..(cant blame them because of what service the foreigners provide) ,We would have less catastrophies!
Not making excusesw here, But If carriers and independents would ‘Call the shots’ instead of having some guy in khakis behind a desk TELLING truckers when to deliver, It would be a little safer on the street…………
Just my opinion from over 23 years of driving independently
There is a functional need in this industry to acknowledge all signage due to the imperative information relevant to large equipment in the execution of there duties safely. It is not an option to not know whats off the next exit or what may be going on in the next several miles. Iliteracy opens a door for a misstep in getting from here to there. It is a requirement in the North American Out of service criteria that a driver must be able to communicate in the official language. If he was still licensed knowing this then the government or school that issued the CDL has a hand in this .
In place to ensure that drivers , left to their own devices can negotiate with complete confidence by having all the information necessary.
This is an (Out of Service) rule that gets ignored or glazed over in an effort to get newcomers employed and in the industry.
It’s another way of recycling drivers by not properly training them and leaving them to fend for themselves.
He should never have been illiterate behind the wheel, The likely hood of an upset in a job that is so safety sensitive would be greatly increased from someone who can acknowledge all sources of information in a split second.
There are 2 types of driving schools to choose from . theres the one that cost a lot of money and will teach you everything you need to know for 4 decades of safe operation and theres the kind that will give you enough to pass a road test and nothing else. The good school will not train you without a firm grasp of the english language.
My question is if being illiterate is enough to put a driver “Out of Service,” Then how did he get to this point if the checks and balances along the way were completely ignored.
I live in Canada where newly licensed commercial drivers can write the written test in the language of there choice even though the OOS criteria still applies. I have taken new english speaking drivers out for the day for evaluation. I would hand them a map book of their area along with the bills of lading for the day and most of them failed because they still couldn’t negotiate the day without getting lost, getting confused, and ultimately making a serious mistake that would need to be intervened.
If we ignore this section of the “Out of service criteria,” then we’ve done this driver wrong by giving a casual pass in his training.
391.11 of the FMCSR . A person is qualified to drive a motor vehicle if he can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand the highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.
I was a driver for 31 yr,s,, and I see the drivers are still complaining,, and doing nothing about it,,, absolutely nothing will change until you quit complaining on the cb and sites like this,, go to the company you work for to voice your complaint,, call or write your local politician. as long as drivers are afraid to speak up for themselves nothing will be done, as long as drivers make themselves easy prey for company and the gov. for lack of better words, (you are screwed)
everybody is assuming two things, around here. the driver doesn’t speak English and he didn’t pay attention. both of them are based on what journalists said. I was about to commit the same “crime” couple of times. you can find me all the times at 60 mph. I see from the far distance the traffic has stooped for some reason. I’m slowing down. I still have time to stop the truck without any problem, even my brakes will fail. Well, all of a sudden 5-6 cars are pulling in front of me and the super drivers jumping with both feet on the brakes. What was 2 seconds ago a no risk situation just became an emergency. How many times that happened to you, all these English speakers!!!!?????
I drove in more then 30 countries around the world. US & Canada are the only countries where I’ve seen text signs instead of iconic signs. This would take out of question if a driver (car or truck driver) speaks English. Everywhere around the world they are using the same iconic sign and it is an international language. What is more important, safety or “it’s our way and we will keep it”?Another thing, only in these two countries I’ve seen people slowing down or coming to a complete stop on the highway without 4 flashes. Also, into these two countries I’ve seen directional lights red on colour, or even the worst. Only one lamp with the same color for brake lights, position lights and directional lights. Also, another “irrelevant” light is the side directional light. Wherever you go on this world you will see cars with YELLOW directional lights on the side. Helps a lot for safety, less anger, smoother traffic. But… what do I know!? I wasn’t born in USA, so by tradition … I’m stupid. I’m not trying to excuse the driver for only one reason. 75 mph for a truck it is a 5 bullets Russian roulette.
Iconic signage can only offer the basics. They can’t escort you to your destination and as a commercial driver, this one of many puts an “8” balls put in front of them that can get them lost, behind schedule or the precarious situation of a residential neighbourhood.
Knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly, a driver may forgo the use of good time management skills like maps, GPS, a good nights sleep, distracted driving, and yes proper communication. For whatever reasons, these are disciplines of the trade that drivers and schools don’t emphasize.The executions and negotiations of a Commercial drivers days far exceed passing a road test. Without it or the language skills to train for it, it will breed confusion , anxiety, Haste , and ultimately poor decision making. The others just don’t care and drive with reckless abandon and nothing can help them to get straight.
The parameters and laws are written to the belief that signage of all sources of information to a trucker , such as regulatory or directional offer up in no uncertain terms the information needed to get a truck from point “A” to point “B.”
I ran team for 15 years and had a new co-driver every 2 months because they didn’t handle 7000 kms in 5 days well. I’ve seen more than my fair share of signage or the lack there of that lead to situations of self control and correction to get the equipment and driver back on track safely.
No one is training for good time management skills in a driver and no doubt, 100% focus and clarity was a factor.
Breeching functional parameters to any job can set a sequence of mistakes in motion.
Drivers who stop on a roadway, who don’t have the common courtesy or sense to get out of the driving lane and to the shoulder, along with the inconsiderate and thoughtless drivers who drive dangerously slow on an interstate or highway ’cause they have a flat tire, mechanical issues etc. should also be held responsible and charged for creating hazardous situations and putting the rest of the motoring public in danger.
You know I seem to remember not long ago FedEx was being sued for firing a Russian driver for not speaking English well enough to understand him. I don’t know what the results were. But I also work for a contractor as driver for FedEx. I get very disturbed when a driver as such comes to the dispatch window and you can’t understand a word he is saying. But the point is it does not matter if he was Russian, Arabic or American. A law was broken and the death of a family was the result. We must remember that is the issue. Since the new HOS change in July 1st. FedEx has not adjusted there delivery time to compensate for the 30 minute break. Instead they expect us to lie on our logs and say we took the break when we arrived at our destination point. Funny thing is it takes about 30 minutes to drop and hook 2 trailers. If your lucky you pick up empty trailers to take back alloying a driver to take that break. But to many times you don’t. This means you must get back without stopping. Then there’s an example of the run from Dallas Texas to Lake Charles LA. FedEx says it takes 5 1/2 hours to get there and 5 1/2 hours to get back. Therefore your still legal. But what about the 30 minutes to drop and hook your trailers and now the 30 minute break. When I went to school that added up to 6 1/2 hours making you go over your HOS.
Quit your winning and show the proof to DOT.
Yeah it’s to bad he couldn’t have stopped to rest during the allowable hours without losing them. Maybe he wouldn’t of been over hours.
Just to let you all know the company was put out of service. sited for many issues. falsified logs, drivers not having current cdl’s, DOT physicals not current or they let them work before the results came back. I see a big Lawsuit coming.
then someone texting kills somebody, and nothing happens…see how wrong the laws are….
Really what it comes down too is the dude was breaking the law.
Weather he spoke English or not. Weather he was on e.logs or paper.
If he was on paper and did not update his hours weather it be 2or3 log books then shame on him. If it was e.log and the company knew he was 3 hrs over then there is a injustice
And someone else needs to be in jail as well.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. …
Shut It Down… if you all want to change it.
With all this bull shit of 1/2hr breaks and csa..
And whatever else they will come up with..
Everyone thinks the ATA or oddia is our voice. Let me ask you what have either of them done?
They haven’t done shit…
I am a owner op with 3 trucks… I’m willing
Shut it down… you want higher rates? Shut it down
You want better pay? Shut it down
You want cheaper ins. costs? Shut it down
You tired of all these ridiculous regulations? Shut it down
And u say well hunt won’t do it swift won’t do it.. however if they are forced to theey will
We need to stand together in numbers…
That’s all I have to say about that