MOM (Mad Old Mother) has had it up to here!
I have been frustrated this week with the unveiling of new details which compound the lack of accountability and justice in our truck crash. Basically, once a truck driver is charged with homicide by vehicle, second degree–which is a misdemeanor–there is, too often, no chance that anyone will dig deeper and see if it would be more appropriately charged as first degree–a felony.
The result: a homicide for which no one is held responsible.
Then I read this morning about 7 family members killed in a truck crash on August 15, 2013. The surviving family just found out that, ” there are no charges being filed against this truck driver. The prosecutor’s office said tests showed there were no drugs or alcohol in the Michigan trucker’s system at the time of the fatal crash.” http://lakeshorepublicmedia.org/140938/
Law Enforcement is in the habit of charging truck drivers with Homicide by Vehicle, Second Degree: A Misdemeanor. Current Laws do not define their actions as Reckless.
End Result: There is no Accountability for their Actions.
Wake up, world! According to Georgia law (where our crash occurred), “reckless driving is defined as driving a vehicle in a manner that shows reckless disregard for the safety of person or property.”
Of course, truck drivers are not charged with reckless driving because they did not set out to intentionally harm someone.
I am not saying that every truck crash fatality is due to reckless driving. But Everybody needs to understand that truck drivers get on the road in a Death Machine.
Drivers need to be properly trained and educated to understand that their Every Action can mean the difference between life & death. Especially Driving While Fatigued! (DWF)
Trucking companies need to schedule and pay their drivers with the full knowledge that they bear a part of the blame if truck drivers are fatigued.
https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/driver-fatigue-needs-to-be-recognized-as-a-public-health-problem/
Law Enforcement needs to rethink their attitude. State departments of motor vehicle & public safety need to be more vigilant. Truck driver training schools need to train their drivers more thoroughly. County prosecutors need to become educated about the dangers of Driving While Fatigued. Laws need to be changed to reflect this deadly and overlooked reality. And the Trucking Industry needs to acknowledge that putting drivers on the road with Unsafe Equipment makes them Culpable in this Reckless behavior as well.
Injustice in truck crashes needs to stop! http://tinyurl.com/pbfburj and http://tinyurl.com/py6nmtw #trucksafety #nojustice #driverfatiguefelony
