For professional drivers, driving is a job and requires constant vigilance. Truck drivers must take extra precautions when driving because the size of the vehicle makes it more difficult to control. In fact, factors like distracted driving among truckers can lead to truck accidents that can be far more deadly and dangerous than typical car accidents.
A truck driver has been sentenced to a one-year revocation of his driver’s license and a $500 fine after a court determined his negligence caused a fatal Tennessee truck accident. Although the driver was proven not to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a three-hour hearing convinced a judge that the driver failed to yield and did not exercise due care. Ultimately, his inattentiveness caused the deaths of two victims.
The driver reportedly changed his account of what happened regarding the accident after it took place, initially claiming he was distracted and then later telling police that cars pulled out in front of him and stopped. Officials worked diligently to identify what had happened to cause the Tennessee wreck and concluded that the driver had lied to make it seem as though other driver’s actions contributed to the truck accident. The only negligence identified was that of the trucker. He failed to notice the slowed or stopped traffic and crashed because of his distracted driving that night.
In the case of this truck driver, he was convicted of a criminal misdemeanor. That conviction and the loss of the driver’s license won’t always provide surviving family with a true sense of justice. If you are involved in a truck-related accident, understand that you can take legal action against the trucking company and driver for failing to exercise due care. Commercial drivers should be the most careful drivers on the road; when they fail to live up to that expectation people get hurt or killed. Victims of those failures deserve a chance to be compensated.
Source: The Murfreesboro Post, “Truck driver who caused deadly crash apologizes to family,” Sam Stockard, March 28, 2014