Driving drunk and kill 4 people, 14 years sounds light.
There are awards and then there are awards. If the deceased had a good job and was say 30, the wife and child lost 30 to 40 years of income due to the negligence of others. Factor that up to account for inflation and NPV and several million in income alone was lost.
By the way, most liability in this country reverts back to employers if a company vehicle is involved.
This is a good example of why we always carried a personal umbrella policy for several million. One doesn’t have to be drunk to make a mistake and kill or maim a doctor/dentist/lawyer etc.
Wait a minute… I understand the trucker himself was negligent in causing the crash, but his employer allowed him to drive more than legally allowed and transferred assest after the crash. Clearly, the company deserves to pay every penny of the punitive damages. Why the 14-year prison sentence for the driver? For altering log books and knowing better? Sure, he contributed to the deaths of four people (by falling asleep at the wheel, I assume) but he gets 3.5 yrs in prison per person killed? Does he have a prior history? 14 yrs in prison sounds steep, in comparison to other cases where a drunk driver causes fatalities and is not sentenced as harshly. Is it because of his trucking license and his expectance to know better than to drive more than allowed and altering log books? just asking
The only person negligent and liable is the idiot behind the wheel. Driving restrictions are well defined and known to any professional driver. This is simply another “deep pocket” to rape. Why does a family deserve to profit over the death of someone? They always claim “it’s not about the money”. That’s pure _ullshit. It’s always about the money. (as defined by personl injury attorneys). Any award should go to a fund to prevent this kind of accident or to a charity. Not to some greedy survivor and their attorney.
I’m indifferent on the award I guess, could be lower but I too am confused by the 14 year prison sentence. I hope if I fall asleep and smoke someone I don’t get 14 years in prison. There has to be more to the story for the driver.
Really Dugan? A “greedy survivor”? What other recourse does a survivor have? In most cases some liberal judge refuses to implement a proper sentence. It’s not up to you or me to tell them how to grieve. In this country it’s all about the money. Look at the posts before and after yours -they’re questioning the prison time. Soft on crime I guess. I think the prison time is adequate. Since we rarely apply tough penalties for these things, a finanicial penalty is all some people have available.
I did a google search on this for some background. At the time of the accident, the truck driver was intoxicated and his employer “fixed” the log books afterwards. 14 years sound good to me.
i used to be one for 7 yrs, otr trucker and driver trainer….
as a trucker you hold a professional license to drive the huge rigs, many cases the weight is close to 40 tons. that is a lot of weight and energy from a moving vehicle. you have rules and regulations that we have to follow. you have only so many hours to work in a work week.
now i read two different things that are wrong.
1) who actually adjusted the books? sounds like both the driver and company.
2) had this driver done this before with the log books?
3) company moved funds, but does the company not have insurance? if this company had an idea that the insurance was not going to be able to pay the amount, sounds like the company was trying to hide money because it was probably going to go bankrupt.
i feel sorry for the loss of life becuase of this particular tragedy. 14 years in JAIL – that does not sound like enough. he’ll never get a CDL license again, or least should not be able to get one.
I think if people only knew how much altering of log books was going on, they would be shocked. The trucking business is essential to the economy to get goods from one place to another. They are under pressure to deliver the goods and drivers are under pressure to get to the destination on time. This guy, if he was drunk was totally negigent and deserves his sentence. The trucking company obviously is responsible for their drivers and probably had inadequate coverage to pay the loss, so they are out of business now for sure.
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Driving drunk and kill 4 people, 14 years sounds light.
There are awards and then there are awards. If the deceased had a good job and was say 30, the wife and child lost 30 to 40 years of income due to the negligence of others. Factor that up to account for inflation and NPV and several million in income alone was lost.
By the way, most liability in this country reverts back to employers if a company vehicle is involved.
This is a good example of why we always carried a personal umbrella policy for several million. One doesn’t have to be drunk to make a mistake and kill or maim a doctor/dentist/lawyer etc.
Wait a minute… I understand the trucker himself was negligent in causing the crash, but his employer allowed him to drive more than legally allowed and transferred assest after the crash. Clearly, the company deserves to pay every penny of the punitive damages. Why the 14-year prison sentence for the driver? For altering log books and knowing better? Sure, he contributed to the deaths of four people (by falling asleep at the wheel, I assume) but he gets 3.5 yrs in prison per person killed? Does he have a prior history? 14 yrs in prison sounds steep, in comparison to other cases where a drunk driver causes fatalities and is not sentenced as harshly. Is it because of his trucking license and his expectance to know better than to drive more than allowed and altering log books? just asking
The only person negligent and liable is the idiot behind the wheel. Driving restrictions are well defined and known to any professional driver. This is simply another “deep pocket” to rape. Why does a family deserve to profit over the death of someone? They always claim “it’s not about the money”. That’s pure _ullshit. It’s always about the money. (as defined by personl injury attorneys). Any award should go to a fund to prevent this kind of accident or to a charity. Not to some greedy survivor and their attorney.
I’m indifferent on the award I guess, could be lower but I too am confused by the 14 year prison sentence. I hope if I fall asleep and smoke someone I don’t get 14 years in prison. There has to be more to the story for the driver.
Really Dugan? A “greedy survivor”? What other recourse does a survivor have? In most cases some liberal judge refuses to implement a proper sentence. It’s not up to you or me to tell them how to grieve. In this country it’s all about the money. Look at the posts before and after yours -they’re questioning the prison time. Soft on crime I guess. I think the prison time is adequate. Since we rarely apply tough penalties for these things, a finanicial penalty is all some people have available.
Falling asleep at the wheel while hazardous is a matter of numbers and situation, not intent or foolishness.
People have to work to survive, and some people can’t get enough sleep whether it’s because of a need for money or anything else.
14 years for falling asleep at the wheel is ridiculous. Someone has to pay eh?
I did a google search on this for some background. At the time of the accident, the truck driver was intoxicated and his employer “fixed” the log books afterwards. 14 years sound good to me.
i used to be one for 7 yrs, otr trucker and driver trainer….
as a trucker you hold a professional license to drive the huge rigs, many cases the weight is close to 40 tons. that is a lot of weight and energy from a moving vehicle. you have rules and regulations that we have to follow. you have only so many hours to work in a work week.
now i read two different things that are wrong.
1) who actually adjusted the books? sounds like both the driver and company.
2) had this driver done this before with the log books?
3) company moved funds, but does the company not have insurance? if this company had an idea that the insurance was not going to be able to pay the amount, sounds like the company was trying to hide money because it was probably going to go bankrupt.
i feel sorry for the loss of life becuase of this particular tragedy. 14 years in JAIL – that does not sound like enough. he’ll never get a CDL license again, or least should not be able to get one.
I think if people only knew how much altering of log books was going on, they would be shocked. The trucking business is essential to the economy to get goods from one place to another. They are under pressure to deliver the goods and drivers are under pressure to get to the destination on time. This guy, if he was drunk was totally negigent and deserves his sentence. The trucking company obviously is responsible for their drivers and probably had inadequate coverage to pay the loss, so they are out of business now for sure.