The truck driver in a fatal 2019 Colorado crash was sentenced to 110 years in prison (interstate, attorney)
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110 years does sound excessive, but considering what he did, I can't seem to find any sympathy for him.
From reading around, it appears this truck driver didn't know enough English to read the warning signs when his brakes failed, and he consciously made the decision to turn towards where drivers were stalled in traffic. Basically, he had some time to prevent what happened, but he didn't. Doesn't matter whether he intended it or not, he still bears responsibility.
A truck driver who crashed into traffic on Interstate 70 in Denver, killing four people, was sentenced Monday to 110 years in prison, according to Colorado Judicial Department spokesperson Rob McCallum.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was driving a semi tractor-trailer in April 2019, traveling at 85 mph, when the brakes failed, he told investigators at the time. He tried to pull over to the shoulder to avoid stopped traffic, but another semi had already stopped there, according to an arrest affidavit.
The crash led to a fiery 28-car pileup that left four dead, the Lakewood Police Department said at the time. Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty in October and convicted on vehicular homicide and 23 other charges, according to Colorado's First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
It seems a mandatory minimum is in play. I don't understand though, was their negligence or recklessness involved? Perhaps his speed? I also think this is incredibly harsh if it was an accident.
That's in Canada, what does that have to do with the U.S.?
Truckers are held to a higher standard because of all the testing they go through to get their CDL. They are considered 'professional' drivers. A mistake made by them is treated harsher than a normal 4 wheeler driver, typically.
First of all, why was he going 85 mph? I can't imagine a single trucking company being ok with that speed.
Second of all, how did he pass his tests if he can't read English? Did they give him the test in Spanish? If so, why? Our signs are not in Spanish.
Was there any investigation of the brakes? Did they actually fail due to mechanical issues, or did they fail because he was speeding in a tractor trailer, that already takes a long time to slow down, and burned the damn brakes out when he laid on them, not using any other method to stop the truck?
Did he try to down shift? Were there no runaway ramps for him prior to the area where he plowed into anyone? Was there no way for him to hurt only himself, as some truckers have done - they have gotten themselves killed trying to avoid killing others.
And then, he 'closed his eyes'? Really!?
He was given the minimum time for every single count. It's just that what he did was indeed so reckless and so careless, it destroyed lives, and hurt a lot of people.
It seems a mandatory minimum is in play. I don't understand though, was their negligence or recklessness involved? Perhaps his speed? I also think this is incredibly harsh if it was an accident.
From a couple of reports, it wasn't that the brakes just happen to fail one time. He apparently was an inexperienced driver who either ignored the notification he brakes had a failure or couldn't read it because he didn't understand English. As a truck driver with a CDL, it is his responsibility to make sure his truck and all of its equipment are in working order. That is where the recklessness and harsher sentence come in.
How familiar is everyone here with I-70 EB heading down hill into Denver
I've done it a few times. (Granted, not driving a semi--first a Jeep, then a sedan.)
There's lots of signs warning about the grade involved, and if I'm recalling correctly, said signs also have pictures as well as words (it's admittedly been awhile since I've been up that way, so I could be misremembering, but the image did immediately flash to my mind). There's also a number of runaway truck ramps that are marked (I definitely am not sure if these have pictures as well as words on them.) But I know there's stretches were a lot of drivers will be riding their brakes quite a bit (I'm thinking of a particular stretch near Genesee Park here.)
I remember watching a video that another vehicle behind the truck while it was in the foothills had taken of him. The men in that vehicle were speaking Spanish, and were clearly worried about what the truck driver was doing. One of them, as I recall, gestured at the 'runaway truck ramp' sign and from the tone, they seemed to think the truck would use it, and when he didn't....well, I can't understand enough Spanish to know exactly *what* they were saying, but it was pretty clear the tone was, "What the hell is he doing?"
Last edited by Indigo Cardinal; 12-17-2021 at 06:08 AM..
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