Personal Injury Law

Fatal NY Truck Accident Caused by Tired Trucker Distracted by Laptop

A 33-year-old woman was killed in a New York truck accident, which police say was caused by an exhausted driver who was watching a pornographic film on his laptop while driving. According to a WKBW news report, the woman's vehicle was stalled on the Interstate 90 after her car struck deer. Her stalled vehicle was then hit by the truck driver. New York State Police say the driver was operating the tractor-trailer while keeping false log books and was actually operating the vehicle with very little sleep. He also had a computer on his lap that was streaming porn while he was operating the truck at the time of the fatal collision.

In this case, police say the driver was in violation of a federal transportation law, which allows 10 hours of driving within a 15-hour on-duty period after eight hours of off-duty time. The law also prohibits commercial truck drivers from driving after their 15th hour on duty in a workday or after 60 hours on-duty in seven consecutive days or 70 hours on-duty in eight consecutive days. In this particular case, the driver was also distracted by a movie he was allegedly watching on his laptop. He has been charged with second degree manslaughter in connection with this fatal auto accident.

Full post as published by New York Injury Talk Blog on March 09, 2010 (boomark / email).