Truck driver denies he caused deadly N.Y. bus crash, source says

MY TURN!!

Witnesses said he had swerved several times to the right prior to the final accident. We ALL know from taking those "nods" that we mainly swerve back to the right when coming out of those nod outs.

He fell asleep and it will come out.

WHY? The camera that is installed in the front looking forward will see all the "swerves" and the truck that "hit him or he swerved to miss."

He instantly blamed a truck.
As does most of the people who "get run off the road" except truckers! it's a 4 wheeler!

His criminal past that has only 2 charges not "many" as is being said in here and even on the news forums!

Yeah the manslaughter one is a little hard to take as is the larceny charge but why do we send them to prison to "atone for their crimes" if we don't put them back into the work force? We darn sure don't want to put them on the street with no way to feed,clothe or house themselves unless you want to just give him a nice gooberment check every month? Throw them out of prison with no job we'll be paying for them again as crime will be the only way they will survive! Nice circle going there!

IP pointed it out first. He served his time! At least he WAS working but as we all see he screwed up and it's going to bite him really badly. My heart really does go out not only to the ones who paid the price but to him. He'll be back in jail when the dust settles IF he doesn't do something stupid!

We all should know as we have that nice little whatever color it is this year book in our little hands called the FMCSA Handbook that the only felony that will keep anyone out of a truck is a felony drug charge and conviction. FMCSA § 383.51 Disqualification of drivers. Murder isn't in the list! BUT it IS in a hiring companies list of no nos along with many other things. He apparently passed the bus companies list.

Anyone who has ever been on that section of I-95 after dark knows that if not sitting in dead stopped construction traffic when traffic IS moving and you aren't riding on the shoulder at 55MPH and are in any of the lanes you will get your arse run over by every taxi, blue haired Grannie late to bingo, large truck, 6 wheeler and crackhead bicycle rider and bus service from the casinos! That road makes the Daytona 500 from New Haven CT to where I-695 to the Thongs Neck branches off look like a merry go round! If a bus isn't going 70 MPH he's broken down!

To be blunt the driver screwed the pooch. We know it. The witness statements of "did not see a truck" and his "swerving several times prior", his speeding as stated by witnesses and when it come out that video from the buses camera and all the video that the ambulance chasers will get from the casino of him even going to the coke machine in the hall if he had a room and they will be the ones to say that he didn't get any sleep! Even though the FMCSA never says we HAVE to sleep but be off duty you can bet your last dollar that they will say that he was in violation of FMCSA HOS!
This case we will all be watching and we will be the first to know where the trial is going to lead. World Wide Tours is out of business. As of 1700 central 3/15/2011, 15 people have died. My calculator does not go into that many zeros just from the law suits from the ambulance chasers that are already filing suits in court and this doesn't even cover the fines that the court, DOT or whoever else will and others will hit them with! BUT, the driver is pretty much up the creek with a lead life jacket as he'll disappear into Rikers and never be seen again.

It's tragic. This is why falsifying a log isn't the smartest thing and speeding and even doing something not to bright can come back and beat you silly!

We will see in the end all the contributing factors to this tragedy and I for one want to be reading how it turns out, not to mention watch the movie they are writing as we read these words of wit!

 

this is me, thanking you, thanking me......

thank you...!!

for whatever, i dunno, you got me all con-fuse-ed.....

 

You thanked me several times in your post, was just returning the favor, with emphasis.

 

only 2 charges...?? i do not care if it was only 1....

he's a killer. (from his past, and now present...)

you think he deserves a "break or second chance".??? then give him a job at Mc Burger World.

i hope he get put away for a long, long time......

and your heart "goes out to him"..??

swallow a band-aid before you bleed to death.

 

I can't STAND bleeding heart folks.... people need to take responsibility for their actions, other people NEED to hold a grudge when life or limb is involved.. and I've found in my years of widespread experience that the folks whose hearts are bleeding have never experienced any form of tragedy in their lives, or they'd likely feel different.

 

The reason they do not hold buses to the same standards enforcement wise is because by their understanding a) we make more money (so they say), and b) we are a bigger danger to the road because we weight more then a bus and thus can cause more havoc in wrecks. Standard bus won't go through cement guardrails, standard truck generally can.

That said, I bet if you tally up all the bus wrecks injured/killed vs all truck (18 wheeler) wrecks injured/killed the buses would win. Because everytime they get into a wreck with passengers the injury/death rate is high.

Trucks rarely ever cause that kind of carnage. Can anyone fine a truck wreck (caused by the truck) that ended up with 15 people dead and 15 people seriously/critically injured in the same wreck? I think the most horrible ones I've heard of was the one in KY and OK where the trucks ran into loaded vans.

I am of the opinion they need to more heavily enforce vs. buses, or at least equally. They should be being pulled into every scale that is open and have just as much chance at being inspected as we do.

I want them to make an example out of this individual. I want him to be charged with making false statements/false accusations. I want him to be used to show people lying bullfaced about a mystery truck will get you in more trouble. I really hope thaat happens, and a few sternly written letters to the DA would help hint hint.

I never believed his truck story. I drove that stretch of road for 4 weeks straight every day 2x a day except sundays. Those buses were the most dangerous thing on the road in that NY stretch.

Did you also notice he had two current licenses? One CDL and one car class, he had numerous tickets on the car class one so that his CDL wouldn't be affected. A) that right there means he shouldn't have been driving. And b) that shows a long history of lying/fraud in addition to his made up truck story and his unkempt logs.

And I hope they nail the bus company too because I for one when applying for truck companies they find out I once had a NY license even when I don't put it on the application so if they were doing the checks they should have been they should have known that.

 

OK, I'm not a freaking bleeding heart!
Anyone who's been in here long enough knows that as I'll cut you in a heartbeat when you screw up!
My heart does go out to him as he F'ed up and has at least 15 lives on his conscious forever! I would not wish that on anyone! Well as long as they aren't American! A certain fanatical religious group is another story!

Second he was given a second chance once. He had 2 strikes against him. He did his freaking time and was working and not sucking the gooberment teat getting some kind of welfare payment. I have to give him that as a point.

The 2 licenses I did not hear about so a link other than hearsay would be nice.

Apparently the CDL program doesn't work 100% as it was supposed to. Now lets watch as they decide we'll need to get printed just to get a Class F or any license!

Now, if it comes out that he sat and played the tables and didn't get any PROPER rest then his arse needs to be hung out to dry.

If he was there longer than the required 8 hours of off duty and that company didn't put him in a room then they need to be hung out to dry and hopefully this can be used to force these "tour" companies to have a room ready for their drivers doing these casino runs and that their operating rules is that the driver MUST get a few hours sleep prior to going back on duty. Also those 10/8 rules need to be changed to the same that trucks must do. A truck very seldom will cause that much carnage in an accident! Why do they NOT have to take a 10 after their duty status due to their 60 seat capacity in most buses?

If that driver took a nap in the bus the company still should be strung up along with the driver! We can't do it he can't either! No bunk, no line 3!

I really want to know what his times were. It's 106 miles or 1:46 at legal speed to the crash site from the town where he started. If the trip started at Brooklyn if what I remember is correct then lets just assume that the 132 miles from there to Uncasvile, Ct took at the least being extremely fair as we all know you aren't going to make it out of Brooklyn at any posted speed but we'll give him 2.45 minutes driving time (like it would really happen in life!) then if he logged on duty any time before 8 pm the night before he's already dead meat as he would have been in violation of HOS under those 10/8. I say 8pm because he would not have been able to legally make that cutoff of 6am to be legal! Remember the accident happened at 0525 so round it off to 5:30 and he was still 30 minutes away from Brooklyn and I'm using Nostrand Ave and Erasmus St as the Brooklyn main address. He was cutting it tight.

BUT for some reason I do not see a group of people going to CT to gamble waiting till 8 pm to head out!

I think this guy will hang as we all know that no matter what color his crayons is, it ain't going to color that book good enough to make it look any where close to legal!

As I said before when they get all the evidence especially the download off the ECM and it doesn't match his log he'll be in jail by tonight! I would not doubt if there isn't a line on him in Atlantic City and Vegas! The videos will just seal the deal!

But still 15 lives on my mind and I'd be saving the state a lot of money and write my last will and statement and take a dive into the east river or volunteer for reactor clean up in Japan!

 

His logbook was days, not hours, behind... so matching the ECM to it will be impossible. There's nothing to match.

Additionaly, once you have no conscience, there's no place for things like guilt.

 

I agree on the out of route detour. I don't cross the GWB unless it is necessary(like if I am going to our Kearney, NJ. drop yard). I have found that I make better time on the Tappan Zee, both ways, even with the extra miles.

 

I wonder if this Casino has a hotel as well? My reasoning for this is that, it has been reported he napped in the bus. We all know that, when tour buses stop at McDonalds, turnpike service areas, restaurants and the like, the driver eats free. Even if the casino does not have a regular hotel, It would pay for them to 'comp' private sleeping rooms, with bathrooms and showers,(no TV necessary) for these drivers to rest properly, if only to help guarantee the safety and return of their patrons. In fact, it should be a requirement. Buses do not have a 'sleeper berth' and therefore the only legal way for a driver to get his required rest, is to have a room provided. I have tried to sleep on a bus and those seats are not comfortable.