Truck driver ticketed in crash that killed SIU student

A truck driver has been cited in a crash that killed a college student from Batavia this week when his car was crushed between two tractor-trailers Downstate, state police said Thursday.

[sowhat]

Ticketed? Where are the reckless homicide charges?

[fpajak]

how said something has be done about these truck driver i know we need them there should be more training

[Colleen]

fpajak wrote:

how said something has be done about these truck driver i know we need them there should be more training

While I agree this is very sad, the majority of truckers on the road know what they are doing and drive very safely (MUCH MUCH more so than others on the road)-- in fact, their jobs (and lives) depend on it! In my many years on the road, the only close calls I've seen involving semis had to do with other impatient drivers in cars and SUVs trying to dart around them and cut them off -- they can't stop as quickly as cars can, people.

I'm not saying there aren't bad truck drivers out there, but it's certainly unfair to blame them all for one man's unfortunate mistake that led to another young man's death. RIP.

[Colleen]

Also, how many folks do you see with hotline #s to report their mistakes hanging in their rear windows? Give the big rigs a break.

[Rocker Delux]

I dunno - sounds like reckless homicide to me....

[huh]

huh?

[Casey]

This is a sad story that is happening more often. Send a message to the offending truck drivers by charging them with reckless homicide!

[Joe]

Colleen wrote:

<quoted text>
While I agree this is very sad, the majority of truckers on the road know what they are doing and drive very safely (MUCH MUCH more so than others on the road)-- in fact, their jobs (and lives) depend on it! In my many years on the road, the only close calls I've seen involving semis had to do with other impatient drivers in cars and SUVs trying to dart around them and cut them off -- they can't stop as quickly as cars can, people.
I'm not saying there aren't bad truck drivers out there, but it's certainly unfair to blame them all for one man's unfortunate mistake that led to another young man's death. RIP.

"they can't stop as quickly as cars can, people"

Answer this. If they can't stop quickly then why do they tailgate? Think of a good one .

[Joe]

I forgot to mention that I am a local driver in Chicago. There are a lot reckless truck drivers on our roads. If Illinois had any money, we'd have safer roads. They're race tracks with tollbooths.

[Concerned]

Family and friends say the driver was drunk and driving a Wal-Mart truck.

[anarky99]

where the hell was he looking in the seconds before he looked at his radio. What an idiot!

[Friend]

Concerned wrote:

Family and friends say the driver was drunk and driving a Wal-Mart truck.

This is not true.

[Colleen]

Joe wrote:

<quoted text>
"they can't stop as quickly as cars can, people"
Answer this. If they can't stop quickly then why do they tailgate? Think of a good one .

I didn't make a blanket statement at all like you just did...note that I said MOST drivers are safe...and the fact that they can't stop as fast as cars is SIMPLE PHYSICS...prove me wrong. I've never been tailgated by a semi, though I'm sure it happens.

Nit pick your way through life, that'll get you going places.

[someone in need of help]

OMG sounds like reckless homeside ur an idiot because you killed a helpless college sudent you probably did it on perpose

[Madeline]

All that trucker got was a ticket?! He took someone's life! A young life! That better have been the largest ticket in the world! Ryan was so special to me and my family! Him and his brother Nick were like the older brothers i had never had!

R.I.P Ryan!

& God bless!

[Cassy]

Let me start by giving my sympothy to all parties involved in this accident. I lotst my mom in a car accident 3 Christmases ago. I know all to well how hard it is to lose some one you love. The man who crashed into my mom was found with myth in his system and is serving a 6 year jail term. As hard as it was, I finally found it in my heart to fogive this man. After all, we all make mistakes. Some mistakes may have greater consequenses then others but we all mess up. Before any of you out there judge Mr. Morrison think of how many times you have bent down to pick something up while driving or terned to tell your children to be quiet or even drove home with a beer system. Let me guess you made it without crashing, lucky you.

[RickG]

I'm a truck driver and believe me , I detest tailgaters as much as anyone . I haul hazmat and report every truck that tailgates me . Here's how to do it . Every truck must have a US DOT number . Note that number and if possible the unit number of the truck which is usually on the front fender or cab . Then go to safersys.org . Click company snapshot and enter the DOT number . This will give you full information on the company . I just ask you to use this info fairly . Some companies will fire a driver over one called in report . When I see a large number of trucks from a certain company speeding I report the company to FMCSA . In 2006 U.S.Xpress cosigned the speed limiter petition . Drivers opposed to the petition observed many U.S. Xpress trucks going over 65 m.p.h. in 55 m.p.h. zones . They reported this to FMCSA and in December 2006 FMCSA audited U.S. Xpress , fined them $7,500 for driver logbook falsification and gave them a poor rating in safety management . The president of U.S.Xpress is Pat Quinn , the ATA chairman that was most vocal in pushing speed limiters .

[Crazy From The Heat]

You're an accident waiting to happen Rick. If you could possibly spend more time watching your drive than noting numbers from BEHIND (ie; tailgaters) your own rig, I'd appreciate your comments more.

I don't know about fair here. Did you consider that you probably made safersys.org a more miserable place to work? DOH!

Companies fire employees based on fact. If the FACTS support that a driver has a history of being a hazard... yeah. One more call and they won't absorb any further liability. You're gone.
Is that what happened to you Rick? Is that why I read such a disgruntled attitude toward USX from you?

"When I see a large number of trucks from a certain company speeding I report the company to FMCSA ."

DANG! Again with the tattletales!
When, oh when DO you have time to drive?

"In 2006 U.S.Xpress cosigned the speed limiter petition . Drivers opposed to the petition observed many U.S. Xpress trucks going over 65 m.p.h. in 55 m.p.h. zones . They reported this to FMCSA and in December 2006 FMCSA audited U.S. Xpress , fined them $7,500 for driver logbook falsification and gave them a poor rating in safety management . The president of U.S.Xpress is Pat Quinn , the ATA chairman that was most vocal in pushing speed limiters ."

I can't disprove or even argue what you're saying here. I just wonder what it is supposed to represent. The fact that USX can choose to limit the speed of their trucks is expressly their decision nd doesn't require the approval of the Feds or the ATA. USXpress has limited trucks. So do many large companies. Many large companies also have maintenance failures, safety issues, hazardous drivers, accidents, foolishness and hookers! Yeah, I've seen sleeper leapers out here too Rick.

Do you want to report them too?

The bottom line with this student's death is that a driver did something he's probably done a thousand times. Looked away for a few seconds. That's all it takes in any moving vehicle, even less in a semi.

The driver's mistake doesn't have anything to do with the company's politics, policies or attentions. It all falls on the driver in the end. He's the one who has to try to sleep at night knowing he's taken someone's life for the sake of tuning a radio... or noting truck numbers from behind his own vehicle, calling in "trucks from a certain company speeding" or worrying about what Pat Quinn does in the privacy of his bedroom.

I am curious though... what the heck is "reckless homicide"?