New Jersey Man Charged in Fatal Truck Accident

A New Jersey man could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted after being charged with a felony following an accident that left two men dead when their pickup truck was crushed between a tractor trail and a guard rail. (Read Story)

The truck driver pleaded innocent to a charge of gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle resulting in a fatality.

The truck driver tested negative for alcohol but had been driving commercially for about 13 months and had never driven on Route 9 in Vermont before Wednesday. The truck was going west on Route 9 when the truck tipped over and collided with two vehicles coming east.

Arriving at the truck accident scene, the state police saw a white 1997 Ford Escort station wagon wedged between the top of the truck and the guard rail and the pickup crushed between the truck and the guardrail. The driver of the station wagon was taken by helicopter to the hospital where he was listed in critical condition.

The station wagon and pickup were already in the right lane and had nowhere to go because they were between the tractor trailer and the guardrails. The speed limit on that section of Route 9 is 50 mph but there are signs indicating the steep descent down Woodford Mountain and cautionary signs that instruct drivers to use lower gears.

The truck driver said that he didn't like to downshift while driving down hills and had his truck in ninth gear saying he was driving less than 40 mph at the time of the accident. A witness who was driving behind the truck told police the truck was driving about 55 to 60 mph and that it didn't slow down until it was into a curve.

The witness saw the pickup as it exploded into a ball of flames. The truck driver was carrying many pounds of paper when the load shifted and the truck fell over. The load appeared to be unsecured.

The New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles reported that the truck driver had his license suspended five times between 1996 and 1998, with four of the suspensions related to insurance issues.

A spokesman at Iowa's Heartland Express, the truck driver's employer, had no comment.