I was assigned as a contract driver to Walmart twice. Basically, my company rented me out to WM. The first time, I did a lot of local runs (in the Dallas area) and I hated it. The second time, I did longer runs in TX/OK. I enjoyed that more. So, I have some knowledge here…
There is no way the WM driver would have been tired at 1 am. All Walmart owned trucks have electronic logs. Breaks are MANDATORY and Hours on Duty and Hours Driving are monitored. And even before my company went to elogs, if I told dispatch I didn’t have the hours available to make some appointments, they’d arrange to take me off a load.
And even at high noon on the sunniest summer day with 100º temperatures outside, in my sleeper with the curtains drawn and the AC running it would be pitch black at a comfy 68º. And some drivers prefer driving at night. There’s less traffic to deal with. The only real hassle is trying to find a place to park to shut down for a break at 1 am or so.
30 Rock is/was one of my favorite programs, and I was very sad to hear about this accident, and especially that there was a death.
Cruising along on semi-auto-pilot and then suddenly becoming aware that the traffic in front of you has slowed drastically or even stopped is terrifying and disorienting in broad daylight, let alone at night, in the *middle *of the night.
When I’m in this situation, I IMMEDIATELY turn on my emergency flashers (which in my Saturn is an easy thing to do, unlike some cars I’ve had in the past where there’s a weird button on the side of the steering column requiring manual dexterity likely to be beyond your capacity when you’re well and truly panicked) so as to alert the drivers behind me that something different is happening. I just hope they’re far enough back that they can react in time.
…and you are basing this on what? A handful of online articles? Can you explain why this driver shouldn’t have been charged with “death by auto” and “assault by auto?” Do you have some sort of insight that you want to let the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office’s and the rest of us know?
Please do everyone a favour and do not drive when you are in this condition. There are no excuses for what you talk about. This isn’t normal, you shouldn’t be on the road if you are zoning out and you shouldn’t be putting anyone else at risk. When I drive at one in the morning I’m fresh and as focused on driving as I would be at any other time of the day. Don’t project your own bad driving on everyone else.
All the more reason for you to be responsible and not drive at night: you clearly can’t handle it. And this isn’t evidence that Kevin Roper has been overcharged.
Trying to think if there’s a way I can refer to that “Rule of three” episode on 30 Rock without looking like a jerk…guess that’s the best I can do.
But seriously, should he and Curt Schilling pass…those will be right up there for me for top ten celebrities that have no business not being in this world. Phil Hartman of course is an eternal lock for the top spot.
I’m not sure how I could possibly use any more respected sources than the NHTSA and the others. The Forbes article is the reference that howstuffworks used. Night time driving is widely known to be extremely dangerous. It’s been studied for years by the NHTSA. Someone earlier mentioned the New Jersey Turnpike is one of the more dangerous roads.
I just don’t see where this driver was criminally reckless or irresponsible. I hope he gets a very good lawyer. He’s facing very serious charges. I don’t want to belabor the point. A jury will eventually decide what happens to him.
“death by auto” and “assault by auto” are the standard charges when the driver has been driving drunk or driving quite recklessly, or speeding substantially (20 plus miles over the speed limit…). Some of us feel these make the driver substantially more culpable than driving when a bit drowsy. Don’t you?
…what does that data have to do with anything that either happened in this accident, or any of the assertions you have made? Your cite is an irrelevant non-sequitur.
It is more dangerous to drive at night. So you should be responsible and drive more carefully. That means you shouldn’t be driving if you’ve been awake for fifteen hour and you shouldn’t be driving if you are constantly zoning out. So please, if what you describe is an accurate description of how you actually drive in real life, then do us all a favour and get off the road.
I’ll ask again: what on earth are you basing this judgement on? Are you some sort of a legal expert? Do you have access to information on this case that the rest of us don’t have?
Why do you keep citing completely irrelevant cites?
I was trying to explain why I felt this driver wasn’t doing anything more reckless or unusual than other drivers on the road that night. The problem of sleepy driving is well known and studied. I gave cites and links to statistics. Criminalizing a normal and unavoidable human response (to fatigue) just doesn’t make sense. Unless this guy’s logbooks show he was driving longer than the rules allow. Truck drivers do follow stricter rules than other drivers.
I was just surprised because usually these types of charges are for deliberate acts. DUI’s, speeding etc. They typically don’t throw sleepy drivers into prison for causing accidents. We’d have to build a lot more prisons if we did.
…if you are driving sleepy you are driving recklessly. Get off the road. And that message has to get out to every other driver out there.
Cites and links to statistics of people driving while sleepy doesn’t make it either acceptable behaviour. Get off the road.
You simply shouldn’t be driving fatigued. Get off the road. Criminalising reckless behaviour that causes death absolutely makes sense. Someone is dead, lives are ruined, because someone decided to drive when they shouldn’t have been on the road.
I thought you knew everything you needed to know about this case and had already determined he had been overcharged? Surely you would know the contents of the guys logbooks to make this determination?
You simply don’t know enough about this case to be able to determine anything. Only a handful of bits of information have been released. I’m pretty sure the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office have a better handle on what actually happened than a few random dudes on the internet. They may well reduce the charges later on. But they won’t do that on the basis of a few newspaper articles.
