Wednesday, February 03, 2010

[BBL2014] Why wasnt he also convicted of third degree manslaughter?

Here's the news which occurred 28th January 2010. A truck driver in New York rammed into a car and caused the death of a 33 year old woman, Julie Stratton. All this happened because he was watching porn movies while driving. I've heard of people texting messages and talking on the phone while driving, but porn movies?? This is a first.

It was also found out that the man had also violated federal trucking rules by sleeping no more than 4 hours of the required 27 hours before the crash happened. The question now is, why was he not charged with third degree manslaughter? A third degree manslaughter dictates that "A person is guilty of manslaughter in the third degree when he causes the death of another person either through criminal negligence or through the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony." Knowing that sleeping 4 hours out of the required 27, any normal person would have known that he or she would be sleep deprived and in the case of long distance driving, it would prove to be a very fatal mistake. Long distance means long hours of driving which requires a LOT of concentration on the driver's behalf. His negligence has caused the death of another person. Should he not have been charged with a third degree manslaughter together with the violation of federal trucking rules?

Link to news: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/28/nation/20100128094359&sec=nation

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