Posted On: May 28, 2009 by

Alabama Truck Driver Responsible for 3 Deaths in Crash

The Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog has posted an article about a native Alabama trucker who caused a crash in Missouri that killed 3 people last July.

The driver, Jeffery Knight, reached to get his cell phone, flipped it open quickly and looked back up to see a car stopped in front of him without brake lights or flashers.

highway patrol report quotes Knight as saying, "I reached across the dash to get my cell phone. I flipped the phone open, looked back at traffic, and I was there right at the last car (in the line of cars stuck in traffic). I didn't see any brake lights or emergency flashers. After I hit the first car, I just remember holding the steering wheel and seeing cars going to my left and right."

He collided with a line of 10 cars stopped because of traffic, killing 3 and injuring 15. Knight, who previously had a clean driving record, was convicted on April 8 with 3 counts of second degree involuntary manslaughter

...which alleges that the deaths resulted from "criminal negligence." According to authorities, each count is punishable by up to four years in prison.