PING.
2 years to investigate a traffic accident? Was Mueller on this, too?
Reads like a page outta DeathRace 2000.
“More than ordinary negligence, but not gross negligence.”
Even though he killed FIVE people.
I see way too many truck drivers overdriving the conditions.
That said, there’s hills in Kansas??????
Who knew?
It’s a misdemeanor with a max 1 year for each?
So the most he could do for 5 dead folks is 5 years.
Not bad.
5 for 5. Human life means nothing anymore
It would be interesting to load this situation, the exact height of the hill, distances etc into a simulator and see how many drivers get out unscathed. By the sound of things I’d guess not many.
More details here:
The hill was described as “slight”. Traffic was said to be backed up 2 miles prior to the actual construction and the first sign warning of the construction was said to be 1/2 mile prior to the crash.
The driver who caused this got off easy.
While stopped in Traffic on I 81 I heard a loud noise behind
In the mirror, I saw a semi in the right lane on it’s side and sliding directly toward me. Fortunately, it stopped before hitting me or anyone in my lane.
The driver hit the rear end of an SUV and mashed it into the semi before it, glanced off and swerved across the right lane to the median then overturned as the driver over corrected in attempt to get back on the road. Although all the airbags deployed, the SUV driver died. Semi drivers accosted the wrecked semi driver and accused him of murder. He could not speak English
When stopped on the interstate I now allow sufficient space to exit if necessary
That is actually a well written article. So rare these days.
Who, What, When, Where, Why.
My neighborhood. This behavior is all too common along I-70 as it winds through the Kansas City area. Big rigs are putting the pedal to the metal to shave off a few minutes through the heavy traffic along the Interstates. Mixed modal logistics brings heavy rail and truck traffic to the metro where I-70, I-35, I-29 and I-48 brings long haul freight into commuter traffic into a mix of Ma and Pa Kettle drivers and wanna be Mario Andretti’s. All driving too fast. The speed limits tend to be either 70 or 65, but most are going 80.
Take a virtual drive (via Google maps street view) of that stretch of I-70 where the crash occurred.
There are no hills there that could significantly block forward vision, particularly from the elevated cab of a semi.
Drivers ahead of the truck who caused the crash were perfectly able to slow down and not crash, so forward vision was not an issue for them.
The driver who caused the crash simply wasn’t paying attention. It was his fault.