Trucker's Prison Sentence Sparks A Trucker Boycott Of Colorado

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I generally don't like to post about internet campaigns, but this was in the news.

The comments to the article provide insight.

NEWS

Trucker's Prison Sentence Sparks A Trucker Boycott Of Colorado

110-year prison sentence provokes mass trucker stoppage in Colorado

By Ryan Erik King
Yesterday 12:01PM

The reaction to Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ 110-year prison sentence has been immediate and widespread. On Thursday, the 26-year-old truck driver was found guilty on 27 different counts related to a deadly incident on Interstate 70 in Denver, Colorado. The brakes on Aguilera-Mederos’ semi-truck failed, and he crashed into stopped traffic, killing four people. The extraordinary severe mandatory sentence has faced widespread disagreement, even from the judge and the victims’ families.

A trucker-led movement has exploded on social media, especially TikTok. Truckers are refusing to drive in Colorado to get Governor Jared Polis to grant Rogel Aguilera-Mederos clemency or commute part of his sentence. The videos circulating show surreal scenes of trucks stopped on the highway shoulders lined up seemingly for miles.

Over 4 million people have signed an online petition supporting the protests’ goals. The petition stated that Aguilera-Mederos’ employer should be held accountable for what occurred. It mentions that Aguilera-Mederos had a clean driving and criminal record. Also, he fully cooperated with investigators and passed alcohol and drug tests. The petition also alleges that the trucking company had a spotty record with equipment inspections.

{snip}

[mopinko]

1. this is just outrageous.

f'ing unbelievable. 110 yrs.

hope polis fixes this.

[dem4decades]

2. Mandatory sentences are the worst. They should all be struct down.

[ShazzieB]

11. 100% agreed!

[Hoyt]

3. The comments to the linked article are interesting-- some for, some against.

[sl8]

4. If only he'd been a drunk, rich, white boy, driving in Texas on a restricted driver's license

He could have killed 4 people and gotten off with probation.

[mountain grammy]

5. This..

[soryang]

6. what kind of brake failure?

failure to use the runaway truck ramps? that's one gross error.

it says he did a brake check, then continued to drive. so was it a hydraulic failure or a pad failure?

obviously there is big problem with the sentencing laws in Colorado. The reporting on this case isn't that good. He turned down a plea deal, but I can't find what it was.

You need to know what you are doing to drive a tractor trailer. You also need to understand that if your rig has unsafe mechanical findings upon legally required inspections, (or if you are out of hours or in some other regulatory violation status) you have to refuse to operate it. When you do this, the dispatcher will threaten the driver with financial penalties, firing you from your job, having you blacklisted, refusing to provide a tow or transportation home, etc. All of these things are pretty intimidating, but you need to have the confidence and courage to stand up for yourself and public safety. These are actually challenging issues that truck drivers face every day. If they don't understand them, they shouldn't be on the road.

I wish this driver the best possible outcome here, but I hope he never drives a truck again.

[gay texan]

7. Back when i had my CDL

ANY sort of brake issue disqualifies the truck. PERIOD.

That was and still is Federal Law.

There is a reason why you do a safety inspection before you operate that truck. A proper safety inspection takes a while to do.

[soryang]

8. A pad failure is usually predictable upon inspection

On the other hand, a hydraulic failure may or may not be. Therefore, the cause of the brake failure would be another issue in establishing mens rea for the charged offenses.

I was a criminal defense attorney and a truck driver.

[2Gingersnaps]

10. Thank you for the information.

A complex issue, compound tragedy.

[soryang]

21. I mistakenly referred to hydraulic brakes

Heavy trucks, of course use a compressed air brake system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_brake_(road_vehicle)

[packman]

9. Seems like justice here is misdirected

Go after the truck inspector/company - Is the driver responsible for the mechanics of a truck? Perhaps if it is privately owned .

[localroger]

15. The driver is responsible up to a point

As part of the CDL exam you must demonstrate ability to "walk around" a truck explaining what does what in enough detail to show you could recognize problems. And you're supposed to do this every time you leave on a trip. This is why the mode of brake failure is important; if it's something that could have been spotted on a walk around or regular inspection, then it is the driver's responsibility, but if it's something random that nobody could have been expected to pick up, then he may be less exposed. But the company shares responsibility too, and giving the driver a life sentence and not even hitting the company with a ruler is definitely inappropriate.

[packman]

16. Thanks for clarifying - and I think it is inappropriate

I lived in the D.C. area a while back and two young girls in a convertible were cooked to death when an asphalt truck with faulty brakes came down a hill, hit their car and covered it with hot tar.

D.C. was notorious for shitty trucks. If they got problems with Maryland, they went to Virginia for inspections, if Virginia gave them problems they drove their trucks in D.C.

story:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1989/12/31/md-traffic-death-suit-is-settled/40c2852a-0ad3-4d32-b8ff-bec3f7b5a510/

[2naSalit]

18. To a degree, yes.

As a driver you are required by law to inspect the equipment before departure, this includes a few checks on the braking system including getting under the rig and physically adjusting the brakes periodically, like daily at least. Even company drivers must do this though many skip much of the inspection if they think "the shop" is really up on all maintenance. Why? Because as the operator, you are responsible for knowing that your equipment is safe and taking it out of service when it needs repairs.

And as mentioned by another driver above, the dispatch will fuck with you if you red tag a vehicle that they don't want to deal with. It's also how the company gets rid of drivers, send them out in a rig that's going to fuck up and blame the driver throughout the whole mess. Been there done that, as a woman in the trade, I saw that attempt made more often than you'd like to think.

[Democrats_win]

12. Employer should get the same sentence

What an outrageous situation. This driver seemed very young and inexperienced to be driving in the mountains. (He was coming out of the mountains when he hit the cars. The final miles of i70 in the mountains is dangerous for all drivers let alone truckers.) Someone should research to see if these laws came from the immoral treasonous Koch brothers. Everywhere you look you see the sickness of the greedy in this country. Heck, put the Kochs in jail first!

[sanatanadharma]

14. Brake fade, overheating, I have personal experience

I drove intercity and charter buses in Colorado. I know that downhill I-70 road.

Using the brakes downhill may control the truck's momentum, but only until called upon to stop. Then there is no more.
It happened to me coming off the hill at what could have been the same exit. No one was inconvenienced, but I knew how close to "Oh, my God" that moment was.

So use the transmission in lower gear! is correct advice. However I had to drive down a west slope mountain road with a leaking transmission and heating brakes. The bus was parked at the first town and swapped out a few hours latter.

Brakes, tires, chains, hills, gravity, snow, ice and lots of skiers driving home do not a pleasant winter day make.

I believe I remember correctly that not many years ago, a trucker died on that hill when choosing to avoid killing others due to others driving dumbly.

[KS Toronado]

19. Yes, using or riding your brakes for a long distance is a no-no.

Manual transmissions in hilly country are the safest. IMO

[KS Toronado]

17. From the linked article....

"Rallies in Denver have quickly been organized to take place in the coming weeks. The first rally will happen at
10:00 am on December 20th at the Colorado State Capitol building."

Now if MSM would give this rally some exposure on the evening news, it would help bring the problems with
this issue to a conclusion.

I topped a hill one time about 40 mph driving a 5 ton wrecker and seen a long downhill with a single lane bridge
at the bottom followed by a sharp (15 mph) right turn. Brakes that had always worked good were on vacation.
I know exactly what it feels like to lose brakes through no fault of your own.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

20. "The comments from the DA in the Colorado trucker case ... sound so out of touch to me."

JeSuisJortsHat Retweeted

The comments from the DA in the Colorado trucker case—basically conceding that her office got someone a gratuitous sentence but not expressing that much concern about it—sound so out of touch to me:

Link to tweet