Crime or terrible accident? Trial begins in deadly 2015 Amtrak derailment

Auto Accidents

Was a tragic derailment a “terrible accident” or did the train engineer recklessly fail to do his job at a dangerous point in his route?

On Friday morning, prosecutors and defense attorneys laid out opposing perspectives on the line between an accident and a crime in the case of Brandon Bostian, the train engineer onboard when Amtrak train No. 188 derailed in Philadelphia in 2015.

Both sides agree on the facts of the derailment itself. Bostian’s train departed 30th Street Station shortly after 9 p.m on May 12. It picked up speed as it headed into a tight curve near Frankford Junction, reaching 106 mph when the speed limit was 50 mph. Bostian braked, but the train derailed seconds later, killing 8 people and sending

Thirteen die in collision of truck and crowded SUV near U.S.-Mexico border

Truck Accidents

At least 13 people were killed on Tuesday when a tractor-trailer slammed into a Ford Expedition crammed with 25 adults and children in the dusty farming community of Holtville near the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.

Handmade wooden crosses stretched in a line across a patch of dry grass and dirt next to the highway, and a seat covered in what appeared to be blood lay near the SUV, as the desolate highway remained closed Tuesday afternoon.

The white tractor trailer cab with yellow trim was still smashed into the wrecked side of the maroon SUV. The entire driver’s side of the smaller vehicle was caved in, and the passenger side was flung wide open.

Trucking Fatalities Reach Highest Level in 29 Years

Truck Accidents

Deaths from large truck crashes reached their highest level in 29 years in 2017, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

Fatalities from big truck crashes rose even though the overall traffic fatality rate declined, the agency reported.

In 2017, 37,133 people died in motor vehicle crashes, a 2 percent decline from the prior year. The dip reversed two consecutive years of increases. Preliminary estimates indicate the downward trend is continuing through the first half of this year, according to NHTSA.

Large truck fatalities rose 9 percent to 4,761, an increase of 392 lives lost over the prior year. About 1,300 of the deaths were truckers. The remaining 72 percent occurred in the other vehicle involved in the collision.

About 40 percent of truck occupants killed were not wearing seat belts.

Lawsuit settled in big-rig crash in California

Truck Accidents

The Southern California woman that hung perilously in a crumpled vehicle — her two young daughters in the backseat — from a bridge’s edge near Buellton has settled a civil lawsuit for $1 million against the Arroyo Grande trucking company whose driver caused the wreck.

Kelli and Jason Groves, of San Juan Capistrano, filed the complaint last year against R and R Auto Wrecking Inc. and the estate of Charles Allison Jr. The couple’s daughters, Sage and Mylo, also were named in the litigation.

Allison, a Grover Beach resident, was the driver of the empty 18-wheeler gravel truck that caused the collision. He died in the Jan. 12, 2012, fiery crash.

Tracy Morgan Crash: Feds Blame Sleep-Deprived Trucker For Fatal Wreck

Truck Accidents

The National Transportation Safety Board has sided with comedian Tracy Morgan in placing the blame for a deadly highway crash squarely on a sleep-deprived Wal-Mart truck driver.

The 2014 accident left comic James “Jimmy Mack” McNair dead and Morgan severely injured after the semi truck smashed into the comics’ limo after cruising up to 20 mph over the speed limit.

Kevin Roper, the Georgia truck driver, who’d been awake for 28 hours, might have prevented the accident by slowing his vehicle to 45 mph, the posted limit along the stretch of New Jersey Turnpike then undergoing construction work. The truck had been traveling at 65 mph, but is thought to have hit Morgan’s limo at 47-53 mph.

In today’s report, the NTSB also noted that Morgan and the other passengers in the limo-van, were not wearing seat belts and had adjusted the vehicle’s headrests, contributing to the severity of injuries.