Bad situation
 

Testimony is underway in the trial of a Florida man charged with driving his eighteen wheeler into a car and killing four family members after their Lincoln burst into flames.

Stewart Stewart is charged with four counts of manslaughter in the December 28, 2005 collision on the College Street overpass of Interstate 10 in Beaumont. Investigators say traffic was backed up because of construction on the Neches River Bridge when Stewart's truck crashed into the Lincoln Town Car.

A family of four traveling from Houston back home to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana died in the collision. Joseph Singleton, 52; his wife, Dorothy, 45; Weston Singleton, 76; and Clifton Singleton, 87, were killed at the scene. The family was returning to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana from Houston.

Prosecutors allege Stewart was traveling too fast and didn't keep a proper lookout.

Stewart's attorney, Dan Packard, is questioning the accident reconstruction and says Stewart was traveling two miles per hour below the 65 mph speed limit. Packard says Stewart failed to see the stalled vehicles in time, but contends it wasn't a crime.

If convicted, Stewart faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

Jennifer Heathcock is covering the trial. Watch KFDM News at 5, 6 & 10 for more on the story.

No excuse for this. Pay attention and look ahead. Obviously he was in la la land and was not aware of his surroundings. Not to mention he's sitting higher up than the average driver and has much better forward visibility. Hope he has fun in prison.

I live in this area and remembered when it happened,my heart goes out to those people who lost their lives and their family members but one thing that bothers me about this I know the exact spot where it happened,that backup was on the opposite side of the bridge that man didn't have no way of knowing that,I don't know if y'all ever travel I10 around Beaumont and La. but in my book they have some serious problems over there for one the speed limit in that accident area should be dropped down to at least 55 mph,the poor guy was crying his heart out in court,I may have a lot of people disagree with me on this but I don't think it's right that they're trying to hang that truck driver,there should be speed limit signs over these blindside overpasses.
The state is doing a piss poor job on our highway system around here.

I know what you're saying and I couldn't imagine it being my family,in fact I tell my wife all the time avoid I-10 at all cost if you go somewhere.
Between Beaumont and Orange there IS gonna be at least one wreck a day there some drivers who go thru here can probably back me up on this.
I'm telling you man this one dangerous stretch of highway they created here.

I don't know the facts of the situation but a simple lack of attention is not a crime in my opinion. If the driver was speeding, over hos, or had faulty equipment then it would be a crime. Backups on that stretch of road can pop up out of nowhere anyways.

Yeah.. who would have possibly foreseen traffic backups in a construction zone?

Yeah...with all of those big orange signs posted a couple miles ahead. I can see how a "simple lack of attention is not a crime." Chuck3507 might have a different perspective if it were his family that were wiped out by a "simple lack of attention."

Chuck3507 - "Officer, what happened, who did this?"

Officer- "Just a professional truck driver who had a simple lack of attention in a construction zone and he slammed into your loved ones at 63 mph with an 80,000 pound truck. No biggie"

Chuck3507- "Whew! I'm glad to know that! Tell the driver to not worry about it."

I hear about stories all of the time.

Lack of attention is a crime if you kill someone because your too stupid to pay attention.

Truck drivers like this one need to be removed off the road.

Just my opinion. I could be wrong.

"lack of attention" = fell asleep at the wheel because he was driving/working past legal hours to make his crappy trucking job pay somewhat decent at the end of the week.

That's why we need EOBR's. I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

Makes you wonder if it was because of what he did, or because he realizes his azz is more than likely headed to jail for a decent amount of time....:shock:

Somebody explained to him what happens when you drop the soap in jail :lol:

I live in Orange and travel this section of highway on a regualar basis, both in my personal vehicle and truck. During the construction and where this wreck occured there were NOT any signs posted about contruction as the work was still 4.5 miles ahead. This section of highway has several overpasses that limit sight distance. This did not happen in the construction zone but in the backed up area prior to. From the pics on KFDM is looked like it was a night time accident.

Preventable , yes. Truckdriver at fault, yes. A criminal act by itself, NO

A civil case can punish this company and driver more than any jail sentence imposed can do.

I agree that this guy should be off the road and I am sure he will be. But 80years in Jail? he was following the speed limit 65 I have never seen a CZ posted 65. They didn't say he was in one, just that construction was holding up traffic. Was he wrong in what he did? was it avoidable? probably. should he have slowed down when his viability was limited? Sure. But 80 years? This seems more like a civil case then and criminal one. "accident everyday on this stretch" Maybe the road planers should be held accountable also...

The guy is named
"stewart stewart"
nuff said

I'm sorry? Do you drive a truck? I tend to look out the windshield once I get into the driver seat, how about you? If you can't see a safe distance in front of you, you should slow down. At least I do. And if construction is slowing down traffic, that should mean that the truck should be ready to slow down and stop, not just continue until he heard a crunch.

This isn't a case where a car pulls out in front of him, then slams on the brakes. The car was already there. Being a truck driver, their is no acceptable excuse for him to hit them.

So yes, this is criminal case, and civil case should be also filed.

80 years? A very light sentence compared to those he just KILLED. However, who know what will happen when the lawyers get involved.

Why don't you just claim that the victims were at fault for driving down the road.

This driver got what he deserved. He was careless, and caused death of people just because he couldn't pay attention, and drive safe.

And stop trying to point the finger towards everyone else. One man did this. And he should pay. And hopefully, he will.

Look, if your wondering why I take this stand, it's because I'm sick and tired of drivers wanting to blame everything else other than themselves when they get into a accident that could have been prevented simply by slowing down and paying attention.

There is no cargo worth another persons life.

Please be careful out there. :wink:

Another road where bad truck accidents happen way too often is I-80/90 in Indiana, especially between the 100-115 mile markers where maintenance on overpass bridges during the spring and summer can cause back ups and tends to catch drivers by surprise.