A 60-year-old truck driver has been charged with numerous charges after he was involved in a tragic 8-vehicle crash that left one person dead and nearly a dozen people injured. The wreck occurred on Georgia Highway 316 recently, and a preliminary investigation by police into the crash revealed that the truck driver likely failed to stop his vehicle.
The 60-year-old faces charges of vehicular homicide and following too closely, the latter charge showing that this truck driver was not obeying traffic norms and laws. It gives credence to the idea that he failed to stop, though it doesn’t prove it.
10 people were injured in the crash, 8 of which were hospitalized in moderate condition. The two other injured people were hospitalized in critical condition. There has been no word on their injuries. The 61-year-old woman who was killed was in a vehicle that ended up underneath the truck and was on fire. She was declared dead at the scene.
This story brings to light one of the biggest issues with trucks out on the road: their drivers are often negligent. Negligence is a broad term, and it can mean that a driver was fatigued, drunk, distracted, asleep, or just plain reckless in his or her decision making out on the road. When truck drivers act in any of these ways, they put many innocent lives at risk. When their behavior can be proven, then they can be held liable in civil court by the victims of the crash.
Source: Gwinnet Daily Post, “Truck driver charged in fatal eight vehicle wreck on Ga. Highway 316,” Cailin O’Brien, June 21, 2017