Semi driver charged with vehicular homicide in fiery crash that left multiple dead

https://abcnews.go.com/US/multiple-people-killed-injured-colorado-massive-highway-crash/story?id=62645657

This is pretty bad.



They say there's no indication it was intentional...but I kinda have to wonder after reading the story and watching the video.

Yeah, I saw that.
the news a little bit ago says the brother (?) of the driver said the brakes went out.

Why would he be charged of manslaughter if his brakes went out? This puzzles me.

It hasn't been confirmed that was the cause.

But still, isn't the driver still somewhat liable, even if it was an accident or failure?

Not criminally. Or shouldn’t be anyways, in my opinion.

So if I’m driving down a freeway and see slowdown ahead of me, apply the breaks as one properly should, only for the brakes to fail and ram into the car ahead of me, killing him, I can be arrested for this? I understand that I am liable in terms of insurance and medical payments, but can be criminally charged?

Maybe I am not aware that this is standard, but it doesn’t seem right to me.

If it was a mechanical failure, the truck company might be liable (as far as financial/insurance s***)

If they failed because they were not maintained/serviced appropriately it would be the driver liable (assuming it’s a private truck and not a company vehicle).

Though an arrest implies they have other evidence/suspicion something else was going on. They may be wrong, though.

Yeah I don’t think even in the failure to maintain it’s legally criminal.

Speeding is criminal though. So if you were speeding when you’re breaks failed that might be enough to arrest.

I agree, I don't think it sounds right either. I mean criminal negligence is a thing but I don't know that it would apply here. All we really have is that his brother said the brakes went out. Not exactly an ironclad source.

I'm thinking if his brakes went out he would have been blaring his horn or something. Maybe he was, but the way it's being reported makes it sound like he just plowed into a cluster of other vehicles totally by surprise.

Who knows...

From a CNN article I was just reading - "Countryman" is from the local police department.

When asked whether there were any mechanical issues with the truck, Countryman said it is something his department is looking into, but he believes even if there were a mechanical issue, vehicular manslaughter charges would still stick.

I know what you mean it kind of doesn't sound right.

Okay, then it’s probably more to the story than that. The police chief or whoever said that even if it was a brake failure it wouldn’t change the charges, so I thought that was strange. But maybe he was referring to the fact that there was other evidence it wasn’t fully accidental.

Yeah, this.

Hmmm...

> Not intentional.
> No evidence of drugs or alcohol.

> Could be mechanical problem...?

> Could be excessive speed... i.e. reckless driving. (This one gets my vote.)

> Could be he fell asleep... driving too many hours/not enough sleep... i.e reckless driving.

Downshift / engine brake, run off the road ... was there anything else he could have done?

... I know it's all speculation and hindsight now.

I remember I had a wreck. It was scary but nobody got hurt. Now I don’t even drive a car

Feel it when I turn the screw

The databank know my number
Says I gotta pay 'cause I made the grade last year...