According to authorities on Monday, the truck driver from Georgia who has been blamed for triggering the deadly highway crash that injured "Saturday Night Live" alum Tracy Morgan and killed another comedian was said to have not slept for over 24 hours prior to the accident. Boston.com reported that Wal-Mart truck driver Kevin Roper was expected originally to make an appearance in state court, bu a court official said that the Jonesboro, Georgia, resident is said to be due in court on Wednesday. It was not clear whether Roper, who is currently free on a $50,000 bond, had retained the services of an attorney for his alleged crime.
The 35 year-old truck driver was supposed to have slowed down for traffic ahead early Saturday in Cranbury Township, authorities have said. Instead, the drive had plough through up until the last minute, swerved in an attempt to avoid a crash, and smashed into the back of the chauffeured Mercedes limo bus of the "30 Rock" star, killing comedian James ‘‘Jimmy Mack'' McNair who was onboard the vehicle.
According to federal regulations, truck drivers are permitted to work up to 14 hours a day, with a maximum of 11 hours driving. The truck drivers are expected to spend the rest of the work day to loading and unloading deliveries and paperwork. Moreover, truck drivers are expected to have 10 hours minimum of off work between shifts to sleep. Depending on the type of company they work for, Boston.com said truck drivers can work a maximum of 70 hours per week.
Vice president Henry Jasny of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said about the accident, "This isn't an aberrant or unusual thing that just sort of happened for no reason. This is part of a systemic problem of having tired people driving at night and driving large trucks."
Several lobby groups have already influenced Congress lawmakers to make amendments in the hopes of curbing such accidents. Businessweek said that the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration has imposed last summer to have truck drivers a 30-minute break during the first eight hours of a driving shift.
On the other hand, vice president Dave Osiecki of the American Trucking Association said that no regulations can stop a driver from making bad choices, posing questions about the implementation of truck driver regulations.
