This is why ELD's are going into effect.

13 people are dead because an ignorant mother####er driving a bus in excess of the speed limit wasn't paying attention to where he was going and crashed into a non-moving object.

The truck was parked where it was because traffic had come to a standstill. The road was ####ing closed, and NOBODY was going anywhere. So he took a nap, as any reasonable person might after sitting there for who knows how long, with no clue how much longer the delay might last. Traffic started moving again and nobody thought to check on the vehicle that wasn't moving. Nobody honked their horn to get his attention. They just left him there. So now you want to hang a guy who only did something anybody might do in a similar situation.

You say you've been driving for 40 years, and if that's true you're a #### hypocrite. You aren't going to tell me you've NEVER fudged the book a little to make a pickup or delivery appointment work. Hell, have you looked at his log book? Up until a few years ago, the rules were a lot more flexible...and those rules are still in effect for bus drivers. Are we to believe that it is now unsafe for a freight hauler to operate under the rules that we played by for decades, yet for passenger haulers they are still perfectly safe? What if he still ran like he was under those old rules and only fudged to make it look compliant with the new? You don't know. There are a million reasons people do what they do, and here you sit playing Monday morning quarterback applying the strictest possible standards to a situation you don't have a ####ing clue about. Use your ####### head and THINK about what you're saying. A guy did what pretty much anybody could have done, and it didn't turn out well. The person who is to blame is already dead, and so you're after the only head left standing despite the fact that he really didn't do anything wrong other than sleep a little longer than he should've...but how the hell do you know how long you can nap when you don't know how long the road will be closed? You don't know how long the guy had been driving, what time of day the road was shut down, or how long after the road reopened that the wreck occurred. Without those facts, how the #### can you sit there condemning this guy?

 

Old rules? Irrelevant. Those aren't the rules that govern trucking today. If that driver, or any others, can't understand that then they have no business being behind the wheel.

It isn't about me, or any other driver. It is about a low-life who shouldn't be driving and was complicit in the deaths of 13 people.

Again, you present nothing of fact but lots of emotional jibber-jabber, strawmen and specious arguments and attacks.

Oh yeah, I've never fallen asleep at the wheel and caused an accident, hit the ditch, injured, maimed and most certainly never killed anyone else... let alone killed 13 and injured dozens more.

 

He didn't do any of that, either. HE WAS REAR-ENDED by a driver exceeding the speed limit while not paying attention. THE BUS DRIVER killed those 13 people, yet you keep trying to pin it on the guy who was rear ended.

Since you're so sure you have all of the facts, how about answering a few questions?

How long had he been sitting there with the road shut down ahead of him before he decided to take a nap?

What time of the day was it when he shut his eyes for that nap?

How long after he shut his eyes did traffic start moving again?

How long was it after traffic began to move again before the bus crashed into him?

You're hell-bent on hanging this guy without ANY of the relevant facts of the situation.

 

Yes, I am well aware the driver of the bus bears greater responsibility than the driver of the truck (and have previously posted that). Regardless of that fact, the truck driver is also complicit in the deaths of the passengers. Should he be excused because someone else was "more" at fault? Should he be forgiven, told "never do that again" and sent on his way? Thirteen people are dead because he was negligently careless in the execution of his responsibilities regarding the care, control and operation of his vehicle.

I am not "trying to pin it on this guy." You present it like he is some poor, hapless, rube that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Well, you're partly right; the wrong place was asleep at the wheel of a CMV parked in the travel lane of an Interstate. He has no one to blame but himself.

Period.

Full stop.

Your words not mine.

The "facts" that are known (by me as well as you and every other person who cares to spend five minutes looking for them are:

• 13 people dead
• 29 people injured
• truck parked in the travel lane of I-10 in the dark
• 13 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence
• 12 counts of felony reckless driving causing injury
• 17 misdemeanor counts of reckless driving causing injury

Additionally, the truck driver is alleged (of which I reasonably believe to be true) to have:

• been asleep in his truck at the time of impact
• had less than seven hours of sleep opportunity in the 24 hours prior to the crash
• believed not to have slept during any of the time that was available to him prior to the crash
• violated HOS regulations 20 times in the four days prior to the crash
• regularly violated maximum driving-time regulations
• regularly falsified his logs to attempt to hide the violations

I am not "hell-bent on hanging this guy". I am truly hopeful that the full facts will be known and that the parties complicit in the senseless deaths of thirteen people be fully prosecuted for their wanton disregard for public safety.

As for the rest of your questions they are, in fact, irrelevant and have no bearing on his responsibility regarding the care and control of his truck. They are a distraction and an attempt to justify his culpability in the deaths of twelve innocent people, the death of the bus driver and the injuries to twenty-nine more innocent people. However, that information will likely be in the NTSB investigation and/or his prosecution.

 

Hold on there fella... are you telling me that if I am parked, uh I mean, stopped in a traffic backup for however long, and I feel tired, I can't lay my head down on my steering wheel? Should I go in my bunk? I mean, I should take advantage of this backup, right? I'm tired and I can't move my CMV anywhere, so should I just get out and go to the side of the road or something to take a nap? I could be in my drivers seat for hours. I am going to have to pee soon and a nap sounds good right now,,,,,no?

 

It is not reasonable to be parked in a travel lane then go to bed. Circumstances may change in an hour or three. If he wanted to do that he should have aimed for the shoulder upon encountering the traffic in the first place, still illegal but tons less risky to the future live traffic that would come later.

 

The worst place to be in a traffic backup is the shoulder, which needs to remain clear so that emergency vehicles can reach the scene. How would you like to be trapped in your burning truck and the fire truck not be able to reach you because a few people who were towards the end of their shift simply hit the shoulder "just in case" the backup lasted more than a few minutes and their eyes got heavy so that they wouldn't get hung out to dry like this guy if traffic cleared and nobody thought to make sure they were awake when traffic started moving again?

Once again, traffic is stopped. Road is blocked. Nobody going ANYWHERE for a few hours already, with no end in sight to the blockage. I can't say I blame te guy for taking a nap, because even though I'm legal I'd feel the same urge ESPECIALLY if it was towards the end of my shift. I don't see ANYTHING good coming from prosecuting this guy who didn't really do anything wrong to cause the crash.

I don't like to wish ill on anybody, but I'm almost there with some of you...for a situation beyond your control to happen and some aggressive prosecutor comes after you hard with criminal charges just because the other guy who caused the incident didn't make it and you happened to be in his way. If the guy has eggregiously and habitually violated the HOS, DQ his CDL and let him find something else to do for a living. No good will come from locking him up on felony charges, other than converting him from a taxpayer and productive member of society into a burden upon the taxpayers who now house and feed him. In addition to that, a ton of money is going to be spent prosecuting this case, as well as defending it (probably a public defender), so even more taxpayer money wasted on pure ######## charges that should have never been filed.

 

We deal with highway closures like this during winter. All two lane and no shoulder. Police close the road, they make sure everyone is up and ready to move when they open road and they will get out of cruiser and bang on door and wake drivers up.

 

Actions have consequences. If you are grossly negligent as you perform your duties, those consequences could have criminal charges attached.
- @Pedigreed Bulldog, post #6

Clueless.

 

Yes, I think he does. If you read the comments in any livetrucking.com article regarding a fatal accident that is not the drivers fault, more posters will comment "they will charge the driver" than comment without reading the article (many people do that on livetrucking.com articles) or think there is a federal law against carrying a gun in a truck.