A worn out Wal-Mart truck driver failed to slow down despite a warning and was responsible for a highway crash last year that severely injured comedian Tracy Morgan and killed another comedian, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.
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The National Transportation Safety Board also concluded in a review that the injuries to Morgan and other passengers were exacerbated by their failure to wear seat belts. Morgan, a normally vibrant and frenetic comedian, has had to relearn how to walk and still struggles with memory issues due to the injuries suffered in the crash.
Roper, the WalMart driver, was later charged with one count of vehicular homicide and several counts of assault by auto, with authorities saying they believed he had dozed off behind the wheel.
Hart also said Morgan and his fellow passengers should have gotten “pre-trip safety briefings” before the limousine left Delaware on the night of the crash.
The board cited driver fatigue, noting that the truck driver had been awake for more than 28 hours at the time of the crash and had driven overnight to the company’s distribution center before embarking on his delivery.
Investigators also said the limousine-van had been customized, and that a sheet of plywood that had been installed to separate the cab from passengers blocked occupants from escaping the vehicle after the crash. The truck driver was traveling at 65 miles-per-hour in a 45 miles-per-hour work zone when he encountered traffic ahead of him which was moving less than 10 miles-per-hour.
They said, the truck struck the back of the limo at a higher pace, beginning a chain response crash that influenced 21 individuals in six vehicles.
That fatigue, the board says, resulted in the driver’s delayed response to brake to avoid traffic that was slowing and stopped for an active work zone.
“Fatigue can not be addressed exclusively by regulations”, according to NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart. Morgan, McNair and the other passengers injured in the wreck were not wearing seatbelts, Hart said. He has pleaded not guilty to death by auto and other charges. It took emergency services and the help of other motorists 37 minutes to remove the first of the crash victims from the wreckage.
“Responders did not obtain appropriate medical resources in a timely fashion, and the standard of care provided by some responders was inadequate”, the synopsis read. “In such an environment, passengers may easily overlook the use of seat belts if not prompted by the vehicle operator”.
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-With assistance from Shannon Pettypiece in New York and David Voreacos in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, .
