Driver of MH indicted in death of Police Officer

I used to teach driver's ed. I told the kids to look as far down the road as possible. Could be a 1/2 mile or more. No surprises then.

I see so many people who drive/plan only one or two cars ahead of them. People don't understand you have to at least be aware of what's going on as far ahead as you can see.

This is driver error or neglect. It is generally a criminal case. I worked in the court system a long time and saw many vehicle death cases. There is not really a defense here, as I see it, since it is the driver's obligation to maintain a safe distance and have control of the vehicle.
His driving record will likely determine the sentence. Also, if there are some witnesses who can describe his earlier driving prior to the crash, that will have an effect. Lots of at fault accidents and/or tickets will equal a harsher sentence. No priors will likely yield no jail sentence.

bigred1cav wrote:
Mom not having enough space between you and another vehicle or in the case a LEO result int he charge of failure to maintain an assured clear distance ahead. He may have mitigating factors but according to available information he is guilty now for a 71 year old to do much time is a death sentence. He may get 6 months in county jail.

Make that "...according to the information available to the public." Which may be a far cry from the total information and other evidence available to the prosecutor and/or defense attorney.

Mom not having enough space between you and another vehicle or in the case a LEO result int he charge of failure to maintain an assured clear distance ahead. He may have mitigating factors but according to available information he is guilty now for a 71 year old to do much time is a death sentence. He may get 6 months in county jail.

coolmom42 wrote:
Do keep in mind that he has only been indicted, not convicted.

There are some extenuating circumstances, according to the driver's version of the incident. He said that he came around a curve and did not have time to get stopped or get over to a different lane.

There is a curve on I-65 where the incident occurred, but I'm sure traffic was already slowing down in the adjacent lanes, due to the wreck. If he had been paying attention to conditions, he would have noticed that, and started slowing down or moving over way back. There are 4 lanes on each direction of I-65 at that point.


ARTICLE IN NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN NEWSPAPER

rhagfo wrote:
Well without a lot of facts on the accident, one of two things happened!

#1. The driver could not react quickly enough to avoid hitting the officer.

#2. The driver made a decision to try to drive through a place he should not have.

If this was a traffic incident that had been there long enough for police and others to arrive and block two lanes,, #1 does not apply,, Epically for a motor home which has a high chair for the driver's seat (by high I mean my feet when I'm driving this rig are dang close to the level of the ROOF on my car) This gives me a much longer view of the road ahead, but then even when in the car I can usually see much farther than the guy in front of me (has to do with where i position my car.. I do not see the back of his head, I can see through his windshield) Nearly all drivers will crowd the left edge of their lane in backup conditions, I do not).

So I think he tried to fit where he could not. I have seen this with my own eyes (only with cars) far too many times,, Done a favor or two for some of them (Since I hang farther right one who tried to run the shoulder ran over a piece of something sharp right where the grass and asphalt met.. Taking out both passenger side tires, Another pulled off onto the shoulder right after the sign that said STATE POLICE NEXT EXIT, I was watching the back of the sign (remotly) and notified the closure crew,, The sign spoke the truth.

It's sad for all involved but there is not a day on the road where I don't notice a big MH flying down the hwy or trying to bully his way into traffic.
I guess with some the mentality is like a bully.

Sher

Nutinelse2do wrote:
How sad for everyone involved. I cannot imagine having that on my conscience for the rest of my life.
Drive safe out there everyone. Scary how life can change in a split second.

You are correct, there are not any blind curves. It's a well-designed stretch of highway with 4 lanes in each direction. I've driven it many times.

dodge guy wrote:
We can`t comment on this with all the facts! There had to be more to the story than what was posted. I don`t believe any normal person would try and squeeze a large vehicle between people and equipment on purpose! Yes he hit and killed someone, but if it wasn`t intentional then it was an accident and he shouldn`t be charged criminally!

He was not able to stop and not able to change lanes in time to avoid hitting SOMETHING. So he attempted to "squeeze" in.

And I agree, there's no excuse for his lack of control of the MH. When I said there were "extenuating circumstances", they were ONLY "according to the driver."

Well without a lot of facts on the accident, one of two things happened!

#1. The driver could not react quickly enough to avoid hitting the officer.

#2. The driver made a decision to try to drive through a place he should not have.

Just a really sad situation!

I will add that too many drivers are not looking far enough down the road ahead of them! I was taught years ago to look well down the road ahead. Even in bumper to bumper I am looking well down the road, not depending on the vehicle directly in front of me for gas or brake!