Three tragic deaths occurred last year in Washington during a tractor trailer crash with another vehicle, killing a mother and her two young children. Yesterday a judge charged the truck driver with vehicular homicide because he had been driving longer than the federal law allows.
According to a Washington State Patrol report, Nesbitt had been driving longer than allowed under federal regulations and fell asleep at the wheel before his 34,450-pound rig loaded with batteries piled into a 1988 Toyota Celica on Aug. 25, 2005, killing Maria Y. Diaz, 22, and her daughters Briselda, 21 months, and Carla, 9 months.
The story from The Daily News Online also reports that the driver was taking blood pressure medication that can impair alertness while driving.
Motor vehicle accidents involving large trucks and tractor trailers occur all too often on America’s highways. Often this is due to fatigued drivers who have been working beyond the number of hours Federal regulations allow. Trucking companies need to be held accountable for these mistakes.
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