Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges.

   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #121  
Gross Negligence Manslaughter: Gross negligence manslaughter is a crime that is committed when someone in an official position commits an unlawful act that they should have been able to see would result in the death of another.

This maybe a problem with our legal system. If he didn't have a CDL, can Gonzalez, or his lawyer claim, that he wasn't in an "official position? "

Ran across this odd legality when working at boat yards. An it was the reason I never got the "Six Pack," Captain's license. If something went horribly wrong, and even if I wasn't piloting the boat, I could be considered a responsible party cause, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER, to have allowed actions to have taken place.

I think what is the most disturbing, is that while this yacht was being loaded, no one, asked the simple question, after seeing the Florida Tags, "Where are you taking this?"

May have shrugged, if they said anywhere else on the California Coast. Thinking of course that the trailer had brakes.

If it was a yard I was working in, and the driver didn't respond, or said Florida, I would have dropped a dime on him and called CHP to check it out. But in this case, no one did.

Nothing short of a Mack, Freight-liner or Peterbilt could have towed this yacht to Florida in a safe manner.
I didn't see anywhere that mentioned the destination of the boat. Only that the truck and trailer were from Florida.
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #122  
Nothing short of a Mack, Freight-liner or Peterbilt could have towed this yacht to Florida in a safe manner.

We know a couple things for sure, no 350 dually was up to the job.

And no yahoo without benefit of experience or drivers license was up to the job either.

And it is sad that people had to die to prove those points.
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #123  
Gross Negligence Manslaughter: Gross negligence manslaughter is a crime that is committed when someone in an official position commits an unlawful act that they should have been able to see would result in the death of another.

This maybe a problem with our legal system. If he didn't have a CDL, can Gonzalez, or his lawyer claim, that he wasn't in an "official position? "

Ran across this odd legality when working at boat yards. An it was the reason I never got the "Six Pack," Captain's license. If something went horribly wrong, and even if I wasn't piloting the boat, I could be considered a
responsible party cause, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER, to have allowed actions to have taken place.

When working for the US Government, part of my job was to oversee contractor safety.
I needed to check credentials for contractors "Competent Person"
I explaned to each Competent Person why we required a CP on each project.
Reason is simple: If something bad happens, the CP is who we point the cannon at!

There is a lot of responsibility in being appointed or certified as responsible party!
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #124  
Here it is, the unicorn everyone asks about.... Where the driver gets charges based on an overloaded truck.

Wierdly enough i happened to pass this guy and then had to repass him on the way down the pass. My intuition could tell it was a hinky operation and I got the hell out of the way once passed. In the posted pic i would be just out of sight to the right. I turned off in two blocks and the sirens were already on their way. I could smell the brakes before i passed. I feel for him but he was a moron and two very innocent people got wiped out due to his stupidity/chutzpah. Not saying I've never done anything this stupid(knock on wood for the future). I don't know why he didnt drop it down a few gear notches, the truck should have been able to handle the load
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #125  
Lookup the owners of the truck and you'll find some LLC filings as a tow/hauling company. It would make no sense, to have contracted a hauling company in Florida, if that wasn't the destination. There are plenty of California hauling companies that would have done this locally, and much cheaper, even if done correctly. It just makes no sense that a Florida company would drive all the way to California to transport something to another area on the West Coast. And he wouldn't have been heading that way, East, less he was intending to go back to Florida, or at least cross the continental divide and maybe the Mid-East coast. You don't buy a Riva 44 to run on Lake Havasu. You don't buy one to run in the Great Salt Lake, or any of the middle state lakes. It might also make sense if the desitination was one of the Great Lakes, or Texas. The fact is, he was heading East and not West. This was not a LOCAL delivery. There is no place in the middle of the country for this boat to be towed to that makes sense, so it had to be a long haul to someplace, cross country.
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #126  
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #127  
Any indication he was speeding?
when i went by him 2x he was not speeding, he couldnt stop at the bottom of the pass. Even at 30 mph the t bone was fatal
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #128  
Gross Negligence Manslaughter: Gross negligence manslaughter is a crime that is committed when someone in an official position commits an unlawful act that they should have been able to see would result in the death of another.

This maybe a problem with our legal system. If he didn't have a CDL, can Gonzalez, or his lawyer claim, that he wasn't in an "official position? "

Ran across this odd legality when working at boat yards. An it was the reason I never got the "Six Pack," Captain's license. If something went horribly wrong, and even if I wasn't piloting the boat, I could be considered a responsible party cause, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER, to have allowed actions to have taken place.

I think what is the most disturbing, is that while this yacht was being loaded, no one, asked the simple question, after seeing the Florida Tags, "Where are you taking this?"

May have shrugged, if they said anywhere else on the California Coast. Thinking of course that the trailer had brakes.

If it was a yard I was working in, and the driver didn't respond, or said Florida, I would have dropped a dime on him and called CHP to check it out. But in this case, no one did.

Nothing short of a Mack, Freight-liner or Peterbilt could have towed this yacht to Florida in a safe manner.
The beam of the boat is 12' 9". That's 15" shy of what a mobile home. That would require oversize banners front and back and pilot cars in any congested area, and maybe for the whole trip. I saw no evidence of even the banners. unless he backed the trailer into a boat launch (not likely) the travel-lift operator should have noticed something. But the driver may have lied and said it was going to covered storage or something for the winter, "just 5 miles away".
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #129  
I think Tahoe Keys Marina is the only place with a travel lift on Tahoe.
 
   / Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges. #130  
when i went by him 2x he was not speeding, he couldnt stop at the bottom of the pass. Even at 30 mph the t bone was fatal
You are a key witness. Do your duty and volunteer to comment to the NHP.
 
 
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