Florida Truck Driver Who Caused Accident That Killed Seven Kids is Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison
Two years ago, a semi truck driver crashed into the back of a vehicle full of children killing seven of them. As a result, the semi truck driver was charged with seven counts of vehicular homicide and ten counts of culpable negligence. The semi truck driver plead no contest to the charges yesterday and received his prison sentence, according to an article on www.News4jax.com.
According to prosecutors, the semi truck driver had been driving his tractor trailer for about 34 hours with only a short break, which is in serious violation of the hours of service rules which limit the number of hours a semi truck driver can drive without taking a break and going off-duty. Once a tractor trailer driver has driven for 11 hours, he/she must spend 10 hours off-duty before driving again. After a semi truck driver has been on duty for 14 hours, he/she cannot drive again until he/she has had 10 hours of rest. Semi truck drivers are required to maintain records documenting when they are driving or off-duty so their complaince with the hours of service rules can be verified. For more information about the hours of service requirements for interstate tractor trailer drivers, see our prior blog post here.
