Two Employees Charged for Cement Truck Accident
Two employees at a cement truck company in Nashville have been indicted on criminal charges stemming from an accident involving one of their cement trucks. The two employees charged are Robert Ashabrunner, the cement truck driver, and Carlton Mosely, the truck dispatcher, and they were both brought up on charges of vehicular and reckless homicide.
The accident in question happened when Sergio Lopez, a father of two, had his car break down in the middle of the road in the dark. At the time of the accident, Mr. Ashabrunner was behind the wheel of the cement truck that struck and killed Mr. Lopez. He claims that it would have been difficult for any truck to see and stop in time to avoid hitting Mr. Lopez that night.
However, the co-founder of Nashville Ready Mix, owner of the cement truck and employer of the men charged, gave a deposition where he claimed that his employees knew that for weeks the brakes on the cement truck in question were faulty. According to his deposition, the owner claimed that the driver of the truck knew that the airbag was busted. In addition, Mr. Mosely knew that the airbags which controlled the braking system on the truck were busted, but he sent the truck out anyway.
The indictment for both men charges them with vehicular and reckless homicide by allowing the operation of a commercial motor vehicle without properly functioning equipment. It claims that both men had knowledge for three weeks before the crash but failed to correct the issue. The owner of the company claims that other employees knew of the faulty brakes in the truck, but no one else has been indicted.
Tennessee Vehicular Homicide
Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-213 states that “Vehicular homicide is the reckless killing of another by the operation of an automobile, airplane, motorboat or other motor vehicle, as the proximate result of: Conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to a person . . . the driver’s intoxication . . . or drag racing.” The penalty for vehicular homicide that was not caused by drunk driving is a Class C felony offense.
The punishments for a Class C felony vehicular homicide include a fine up to $10,000 as well as a prison sentence between three and fifteen years. In addition, the law states that “court shall prohibit a defendant convicted of vehicular homicide from driving a vehicle in this state for a period of time not less than three years nor more than ten years,” and it must not happen concurrently with the prison sentence.
Contact a Tennessee Lawyer Now
If you or someone that you know has been injured or killed in an auto accident because of the negligence of another in the Nashville area, let the experienced personal injury lawyers at Calhoun Law, PLC help. Call the office or contact us today for a private and free consultation of your claims.
