The driver of a semi-truck from Buffalo, Minnesota, was charged with causing a multiple-vehicle crash last May that resulted in the death of two people and an unborn child. The crash that happened in Lakeville, Minnesota, also released millions of bees on Interstate 35.
The bees severely hindered rescue efforts.
The Dakota County grand jury indicted the 37-year-old driver on charges of three counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of careless driving.
Near the end of last month, two cars were stopped in traffic on the I-35 behind a tractor trailer carrying dozens of crates of live bees – about 30 million in all. Another semi, driven by the 37-year-old, was approaching at about 68 mph from behind them. Without heeding the warning signs foretelling of a lane closure, the driver did not slow down. He smashed into both cars.
The millions of bees were released in the impact.
Thousands of people in the U.S. are severely allergic to bees. Even though there were no reports of allergic reactions, it was still a sight to behold all those bees escaping the trailer. A person’s natural reaction to thousands of insects – that have been recently jarred and are confused and more likely to sting you – is to stay away.
So, when rescue personnel responded, the bees hindered their progress severely. The bee truck driver handed out protective suits to help their efforts.
Both adult female drivers died as well as one unborn child, conceived just 8 weeks prior.
At the stop, one woman had called her husband to tell him she appreciated that the air conditioning was working in the car again. Her husband reported hearing static on the phone and assumes it was likely the moment when his wife was crushed to death.
The indicted truck driver told the State Patrol that he had been sidetracked at the time of the accident. He had been reaching toward the floor for an energy drink and couldn’t stop his truck in time when he looked up. The investigation also revealed that he was driving without his required corrective lenses.
A study don in Manhattan, NYC reveals that “tragedies like this can happen in seconds at freeway speeds when drivers are not paying close attention to the surrounding traffic and highway warning signs.”
The assaulting truck driver was clearly at fault here – in taking his eyes off the road and in not wearing the corrective eye glasses. When such an incident occurs to you, seek the competent legal aid of a New York Truck Accident Attorney.