A truck driver from Georgia is at the center of a tragic accident that occurred over the weekend and resulted in numerous injuries and a fatality. The crash has grabbed the national spotlight, as well-known comedian Tracy Morgan was one of the victims injured in the accident.
According to early reports, it was approximately 1:00 a.m. when the trucker failed to stop for traffic that had slowed down on the New Jersey Turnpike. The Walmart truck crashed into the back of a limo van that was carrying Morgan and several other passengers. Many of them, including the former “30 Rock” star, were injured and one man was killed when the van rolled over after the initial impact.
It is possible that the driver of the truck may have been drowsy or distracted at the time of the crash, though the cause of the accident is still under investigation. In similar truck accidents, a driver who fails to react to changing road conditions in time to avoid a collision has been found to be impaired, distracted or even asleep behind the wheel.
Police do not believe that the trucker, who is now facing charges, was intoxicated when the accident occurred. But given the time of the accident, the driver’s failure to react to slowing traffic and the fact that truckers are on the road for long stretches of time, there is a possibility that the truck driver in this accident was drowsy or not paying attention to the road.
This was certainly a devastating accident, but it is also the type of accident that happens far too often across the U.S. There are too many drivers engaged in unsafe driving behaviors behind the wheel, and crashes involving drowsy or distracted drivers are bad enough without adding an enormous 40-ton vehicle to the mix. Drivers who cause an accident because of recklessness or negligence can and should be held accountable for the damage they cause.
Source: CNN, “Tracy Morgan ‘more responsive’ but still in critical condition, publicist says,” Holly Yan and Ralph Ellis, June 8, 2014
