Truck driver receives stiff prison sentence

A dump truck driver who was convicted on several charges over the 2010 wrongful deaths of four motorcyclists was recently sentenced to twenty-six years in jail. The professional driver was convicted of manslaughter, aggravated assault and endangerment according to reports.

Apparently the truck driver ran over several motorcycle riders who were stopped at a red light killing four and injuring several others. Apparently, the truck driver’s toxicology reports showed methamphetamine in his system at the time of the crash. Defense attorneys for the truck driver apparently argued that the brakes were improperly working at the time of the dump truck accident.

This is another example of a jury and the judge holding a truck driver who is accused of using drugs accountable with a lengthy sentence in prison. Not long ago under similar circumstances a truck driver who was accused of cocaine use in the wrongful death of several motorists he ran into the back of was likewise sentenced to lengthy prison sentence.

Because of the sheer weight of a dump truck or eighteen-wheeler, an accident can turn to tragedy in a very short period of time. In fact, dump trucks and other commercial vehicles can easily wipe out several different cars or pickup trucks given their 80,000-pound weight.

Multiple deaths from 18-wheeler accidents are not uncommon and that is one of the reasons if not the main reason for the trucking rules and regulations not only banning the use of certain substances by drivers but also regulating the condition of the vehicle and the qualifications of the driver.

It is a well-known fact that big rigs take much longer to stop than passenger cars or pickup trucks and for that reason it is even more critical that the truck driver the aware of the road in front of them. Drinking truck drivers or truck drivers on drugs endanger everyone in the community and the lengthy sentences handed down in cases like this is the norm for this type of case recently.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require a truck driver be tested for drugs or alcohol after in a fatal truck accident that may have been the truck driver’s fault.

The criminal trial is only one part of the equation for justice for the loss of these four people and the dump truck accident lawsuit, which will surely follow, will be the civil justice. However, in cases like these that really is not any real justice for the taking of four lives and the injury of others.