This is why ELD's are going into effect.

But he was tired...



.

 

If traffic was flowing and he stopped to take a nap in the travel lane, that's a problem, and you wouldn't find anyone willing to say otherwise. However, the road in this case was shut down. Traffic was stopped, and it wasn't looking like anyone would be going anywhere anytime soon, so he took a nap. His intent wasn't to block the road, but to be ready to roll when the road eventually opened up again. I've been in this situation before...roll up on a major wreck as the emergency crews are arriving. Wreck is just beyond where I can see what's going on, but it's obvious that we aren't going anywhere for a while. 12 hours later, the road is opened back up and we started to move. Are you saying I shouldn't have napped? Would you have preferred I sit there ready and waiting, so that when the road opened I could fall asleep behind the wheel before I reached the next exit to safely park, closing the road yet again? Just so happened in THIS case, nobody knocked on his truck to say "hey, bud...time to roll".

 

You're sure working hard to make excuses for this deadbeat.

Your "[h]owever, the road in this case..." is irrelevant. Regardless of what anyone else could have done, or even should have done, the facts remain that; 1) the driver would not have even been in that location if he had been observing HOS properly, 2) the driver's fatigue and inability to remain alert and awake for the period he was stopped (which wasn't so long that it was an apparent problem for any other drivers in the same stoppage) was significantly aggravated by his historical and egregious non-conformance to the laws governing his occupation as well as common sense and decency, 3) the driver alone is responsible for his actions, and 4) his intent is irrelevant to the fact that his actions contributed to the deaths of 13 people, but should be a factor in sentencing should he be found guilty.

Neither this driver nor you are unique to having found themselves in a traffic stoppage. Fortunately the rest of us get it right... it's part of the job.

 

Like I said, strip him of his credentials to participate in this industry, sue his pants off in the civil courts if you want, but as far as the CRIMINAL justice system is concerned, there is (or at least SHOULD be) only one standard. One's occupation should NEVER play a role in deciding whether or not CRIMINAL charges should be filed against an individual. Either a crime was committed or it wasn't, and that shouldn't differ if he was a truck driver instead of a doctor or a retired guy in an RV. Not sure why you are having such a difficult time comprehending that simple fact. Equal protection under the law.

If the unthinkable should ever happen to you, I hope you remember the high & mighty position you have taken here when the masses are demanding YOUR head. Just because somebody screwed up or somebody else got killed doesn't mean a crime has been committed. Sometimes $#!+ just happens. You made a point that he should've been able to remain alert throughout the duration of the road closure. Do you know how far into his day it was? How long the road was closed? Suppose he WAS running legal, and was planning to shut down 50 miles further up the road when traffic came to a halt. He's been at it for 12-13 hours already, and it's late afternoon. If the road is closed for more than 5-6 hours, I can't blame him for wanting a nap. As far as he knows, it could be daylight again before the road is open again. Legal or not, you probably wouldn't stay awake through the night either. Put yourself in his shoes before you judge him, because at the end of the day you're no better than he is.

 

When you drive 140k+ miles/year, you have to assume a much higher degree of liability exposure to potential crashes, at-fault or otherwise. I don't see these potential charges as being any higher than anybody else would receive.

Even in auto only crashes where one was clearly "at fault" (and the sole cause), prosecutors will seek out every possible charge. No different here, except CMV truck drivers have more potential charges than auto drivers. The math is pretty simple.

 

I'm not sure why you're having such a difficult time comprehending the fact that I am not. I'm also not sure where you are getting this information about a double-standard. There isn't one. The DA is not prosecuting him because he is a truck driver, the DA is prosecuting the charges because they believe him to be guilty of them. I could not care less that he is a truck driver. However, he is obviously incapable of being granted the rights and responsibilities that go along with having a CDL. Therefore, in addition to answering for his criminally negligent behaviour, he should also have a lifetime ban from having a CDL and likely the ability to drive any vehicle.

Do you really think that if he wasn't a truck driver that there would not be criminal charges? His actions are the very definition of them. To believe otherwise strikes me as some kind of paranoia.

Well, since I am well aware of my legal, moral and ethical responsibilities, I won't be stopping to sleep in the middle of a well-travelled Interstate. Not "high & mighty", just correct. And, yes, I have encountered the exact same scenario too many times to count in the last nearly fourty years of driving.

Actually, in this case, yes it does.

Weak. Really weak... especially from you.

Valid questions insofar as understanding just how badly he screwed up. Was he so fatigued that he was incapable of making a rational decision, one that a "reasonable person" would make? Was the outcome the result of so many purposefully illegal decisions? At this stage it appears the answer is yes. This isn't the case of some guy who made a single tragic mistake. This clown made numerous decisions to flout the law and his occupational and social responsibilities and you and several others are seemingly indicating that it should all be okay because he is a truck driver.

Except that he wasn't and 13 people are dead.

Well, I haven't done anything, wilful or otherwise, to cause the death of 13 people in a horrific traffic accident, so there's that...

 

Up until that night, neither had he. Life changes in an instant, and if you can't see that...

It would be different if he were the one that crashed into the bus...but he wasn't. It would also be different if he stopped to nap while traffic zipped past...but he didn't. When he closed his eyes, everybody around him was parked same as he was. They weren't going anywhere. And then the road opened and nobody noticed a truck parked blocking the lane? Nobody thought to knock on his door or toot their horn to get his attention? It could happen to anybody, including you. Long day, ugly situation ahead and suddenly there you sit.

Most of the time, crimes require mens rea...intent to commit the crime...in addition to actus reas...the act itself. There was no intent here, and the act itself was something that could happen to anyone. He dozed off while stuck on a shut down highway waiting for it to reopen, and was rear-ended by somebody who wasn't paying attention while exceeding the speed limit. Hell, had the road not been cleared, that bus could have slammed into the rear of a different vehicle at the back of the pack.

 

yeah i doubt it'd be a capital case as there was no known intent. Needless to say the guilty party will be doing some serious time behind bars

 

And who's the guilty party that's going to prison with murderers and rapists?

lol, You guys make it sound like this driver should be Pooping on a stainless steel toilet in front of anyone in a 6 foot by 8 foot Barrack with bars and little sunlight........

You Do that to Murderers and Pedophiles and Thieves.... Not someone who fell asleep! Jesus h Chri!!

 

Its just an opinion buddy and sounds like alot of us feel the same way however in the end that will be the job of the Public Prosecutor.