The Verdict Is In……. 110 Years Concurrent Life Sentences

Https://www.foxnews.com/us/truck-driver-rogel-aguilera-mederos-sentenced-outrage-protests-petition-colorado

The driver was given 110 years and will spend the rest of his life in jail. I don’t think he intentionally set out to kill those four people that day, but his lack of training and English barriers caused four deaths. I for one am against folks not being able to get a CDL if they can’t proficiently read, write and communicate the English language.

I’m also still up in the air on the new fmcsa rules coming out 2/7/22, hopefully tragedies like this can be prevented under it….time will tell on that one……

What got me is that the kid I think genuinely wanted to come over here and make a better life than he had in Cuba and unfortunately got under the wrong influences (in the trucking world).

Anyone have anything to add?

There are sooo many questions that come to mind.

Trying to understand why there isn’t a shred of accountability on the company that placed him behind the wheel, and how he was trained.

I know we are among many who are not trained adequately and unfortunately are too naive’ and/or too stupid to know any better.

I see it every night...approaching toll booths too fast, on/off ramp speeding, speeding through construction zones... tail gating. It’s chronic and very disturbing.

Nobody should get a license, CDL or otherwise without having English language skills. Maybe get rid of the press one for English on phones and work from there. Most American families were immigrants, very few of those came from England and we all managed to learn it.

Trying to understand why there isn’t a shred of accountability on the company that placed him behind the wheel, and how he was trained.

Oh, that's going to be on the way with civil suits. There is plenty of blame to go around, not including the driver. After the lawyers, public opinion, the media trajedy/guilt stories, and juries are through, I'll be surprised if any of those companies survive, and that's if any of them are even around now.

This story is senseless, tragic, and was easily preventable. The driver is apologetic, but those people are still dead, and he was the driver of the truck that caused it. Many partirs should be held criminally accountable, including the state's DMV where his CDL was issued.

I’m with you, so many questions. What good does it do this young man to have life with no parole possibility or the chance to show “Hey I f worded up, badly and I now own it and I’m sorry, the pain I caused was not intentional and I feel horrible, may I have forgiveness?”

Like you it amazes me that the trucking company has not been held to account.

It shows me the need for better mentorship, education and training in our industry , previous generations failed at properly instructing the next generation miserably (not just in trucking, but I’ll reserve that conversation for a different time or thread)

There are sooo many questions that come to mind.

Trying to understand why there isn’t a shred of accountability on the company that placed him behind the wheel, and how he was trained.

I know we are among many who are not trained adequately and unfortunately are too naive’ and/or too stupid to know any better.

I see it every night...approaching toll booths too fast, on/off ramp speeding, speeding through construction zones... tail gating. It’s chronic and very disturbing.

Criminal accountability.

Trying to understand why there isn’t a shred of accountability on the company that placed him behind the wheel, and how he was trained.

Oh, that's going to be on the way with civil suits. There is plenty of blame to go around, not including the driver. After the lawyers, public opinion, the media trajedy/guilt stories, and juries are through, I'll be surprised if any of those companies survive, and that's if any of them are even around now.

This story is senseless, tragic, and was easily preventable. The driver is apologetic, but those people are still dead, and he was the driver of the truck that caused it. Many partirs should be held criminally accountable, including the state's DMV where his CDL was issued.

I did in fact read about restitution suites coming and I did a curious search for his carrier on SAFER and I can’t find it (I’ll leave generous margins of percent for user error on the website) so something tells me the ish has already started for that guy’s carrier and the owner has already lawyered up.

Either way the carrier is finished and I won’t be surprised to see this as a precise t against smaller carriers and owner ops.

I see a lot of iffy equipment in the truck stops at night. If you can’t afford to repair/replaced a front end grill after a wreck, what other gremlins can’t you afford to replace or maintain (brakes maybe???)

And I hate to sound meh judging or statist, but I think it’s also wrong for guys to be able to go out and get their own truck and operating authority fresh out of CDL school and start hauling freight. The salesmen at the dealer ships don’t care, like a car salesmen they’ll put you behind the wheel of a new or used semi as long as you can show your license, insurance and legal documents (not unlike buying a new four wheeler)

Crazy

Trying to understand why there isn’t a shred of accountability on the company that placed him behind the wheel, and how he was trained.

Oh, that's going to be on the way with civil suits. There is plenty of blame to go around, not including the driver. After the lawyers, public opinion, the media trajedy/guilt stories, and juries are through, I'll be surprised if any of those companies survive, and that's if any of them are even around now.

This story is senseless, tragic, and was easily preventable. The driver is apologetic, but those people are still dead, and he was the driver of the truck that caused it. Many partirs should be held criminally accountable, including the state's DMV where his CDL was issued.

There are sooo many questions that come to mind.

Trying to understand why there isn’t a shred of accountability on the company that placed him behind the wheel, and how he was trained.

I know we are among many who are not trained adequately and unfortunately are too naive’ and/or too stupid to know any better.

I see it every night...approaching toll booths too fast, on/off ramp speeding, speeding through construction zones... tail gating. It’s chronic and very disturbing.

G Town is spot on. I see these things all the time. Several weeks ago I was in a slow moving traffic back up. The driver to my right had a tablet on his dash and was watching a movie as he drove. Total insanity.

This case, including the long sentence, is a little more complex. With the charges filed by the prosecutor and the jury's finding of guilt, apparently the judge was bound by minimum sentencing guidelines.

Colorado Pile Up Conviction; The Rest of the Story

This tragedy is a clear and obvious event exemplifying the level of responsibility and accountability we have as Professional Drivers.

Be smart. Be safe. God Speed.