comedian Tracy Morgan hurt in bus/truck crash

I highly doubt the DOT said anything along the lines of, "dash cams are a bad idea".

I would more likely believe that the DOT officer pointed out that footage from a dash cam can be used against the company if the driver was at fault in an accident, and made the company think twice on that point. Nobody likes giving a plaintiff ammunition.

 

Kevin Roper entered a plea of not guilty:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/11/showbiz/tracy-morgan-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t

Now here's the interesting bit from the story:

"In the criminal complaint, police said Roper had been awake for more than 24 hours at the time of the crash. He failed to notice traffic slowing in front of him and hit Morgan's bus despite trying to swerve out of the way, according to authorities.

It's unclear how they determined the trucker was sleep-deprived.

Walmart said it believed Roper was operating within federal rest guidelines but said it would take full responsibility if the investigation shows its truck was to blame. Federal law mandates drivers work no more than 14 hours for any shift -- 11 of those driving.

"The details are the subject of the ongoing investigation and we are cooperating fully with the appropriate law enforcement agencies," said Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Walmart.

Under New Jersey law, a driver can be convicted if there's proof he had been without sleep for 24 hours when the accident occurred.

Proving he was sleep-deprived is crucial to get a conviction, in this case five to 10 years, legal analyst Paul Callan said on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."

"It's very important because otherwise, it's just an ordinary accident," he said. "Anybody can have an ordinary accident; we don't take them off in handcuffs. In New Jersey, because it is so dependent on these big roads, sleep deprivation has been recognized as a form of recklessness and it's criminal."

However, Callan said, proving the trucker was sleep-deprived will be the difficult part.

"Maybe you can prove he was driving for a period of time, but how do you know he didn't pull over by the side of the road and sleep? There's only one way to find out -- and that is if he confessed to it. "

 

No doubt, which is why law enforcement uses them. Dash cams are only useful for a driver not driving reckless.

 

Following up from the CNN story I posted, I think the allegation of sleep deprivation is the entire key to the prosecutor's case. How they determined this will be the issue. Did Mr. Roper make statements to the police?

I find it unfathomable that a Walmart truck, or any carrier using an e-log, would be able to roll in violation of hours of service. At the very least the system will flag you with verbal warnings and big red exclamation points that you are in violation of hours of service. Most systems are also actively monitored by the safety department at the company if a HOS violation occurs. I would be shocked if the e-log itself shows HOS violations.

That leaves only the possibility that Mr. Roper hadn't slept for a period of time prior to coming on duty for his pre trip inspection AND that he made a statement of that fact to the police.

The thing is muddled.

 

I imagine the DOT was also pushing for them to not be in vehicles so that officers can be recorded at our end. They want no one monitoring them.

 

Was this the first load of the week?

Did he travel the time before he got to work?

Did the prosecutor miss hear on the sleep issue?

Was he on the road for a time with Walmart prior to the accident.


There are so many questions and no answers.

 

It's pretty clear that the talking head, Paul Callan, isn't aware of the number of computers in trucks. The question of what the truck was doing and when in the day before the crash will be answered immediately.

The question of whether the driver went on his ten-hour break then got picked up by his girlfriend and taken to her house three hours away, had a big night, then got driven back to his truck before he started driving, all of it without sleeping, remains to be answered.

 

I would guess the driver was not over on the HOS. The e-log in the Walmart truck gives repeated visual and audible warnings starting one hour before a driver will be out of hours. If you go past the allowed HOS by even one minute, the computer will notify the safety department. I have not received any HOS violations, but a few drivers I know who have were disciplined. Walmart takes this HOS compliance very seriously.

 

Apparently this was the first day back after time off for the driver. What he was doing prior to reporting to work may or may not ever be known, but these days there are many pieces of evidence that can get pieced together to either help or hurt him, such as location history of a cell phone or even purchases made on a credit card, etc. I do not even listen to some of these empty suits on TV who don't know a fifth wheel from a hole in the ground. To a non-trucker, they may appear smart, but to me they often sound like total fools!

 

I have had a problem from the beginning with the 24 hours without sleep statement. I can almost guarantee that elog will not show 24 hours on duty and I would think any half decent lawyer could get the driver off on that charge.

However er the media has done its job in sensationalizing that point so the facts no longer matter in the public eye or I. The eyes of out lawmakers