Truck drivers boycott Colorado over Rogel Aguilera-Mederos sentencing (Denver, Littleton: home, school)

[downtownnola]

It will be interesting to see if this boycott has any lasting implications or leads to any changes. I hope that Gov. Polis will commute some of his sentence. This was a tragic situation, but 110 years seems like a very long time for what was likely a mistake that may have not even been his fault.

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/rogel...oycott-tiktok/

If you are interested in signing the petition, it is found here:

https://www.change.org/p/jared-polis...uilera-mederos

[otowi]

I personally agree - even the judge clearly did not want to give that sentence but was constrained.

[StealthRabbit]

He will only serve a fraction of his sentence.

What do you consider appropriate?

As an accident free 3m mile CDL driver, much of it in Colorado.... I can't say this sentence is excessive, considering our trade and the daily risks and responsibility we must deliver, moment by moment.

[Mike from back east]

Isn't there a truckload of irony in this case?

Brakes fail, or make a mistake, or be negligent, kill four people and get 110 years.
Drive drunk, kill four people and get a tiny sentence, if any.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Isn't there a truckload of irony in this case?

Brakes fail, or make a mistake, or be negligent, kill four people and get 110 years.
Drive drunk, kill four people and get a tiny sentence, if any.

Not sure that is always true, but it is evident of our USA legal system.

Business owners know all about this, especially if they hire drivers and have expensive and highly visible trucks running 24x7 all over the USA and Canada.

employees... (?) they don't have any idea (or 'skin-in-the-game') of the 'risks' borne by their employers.

Can't count the number of drunk drivers who have taken out our CO fleet at various times. (Was way worse when CO was a 3.2%@age18 state).
A co-driver had 3 teens (DUI) hit him head-on near WY line. He got to hang around and listen to them scream and die (pinned / trapped under semitruck), since it was the middle of the night and no vehicles came by until daylight. Another driver got hit from the rear by 3 teens (DUI) driving a Lincoln and flipped his truck over into the median. I arrived back to the terminal the next morning to recognize his truck cab smashed flat to the hood. I had loaded out in Denver just before him, so I had probably a 20 min head start to WY.

[DOUBLE H]

What I have a problem with is the runaway ramp at the bottom of Floyd Hill and he went right past it. When you're scared as hell, which he certainly was, your instincts go right out the window regarding what to do. I've seen a few youtubes on this and it shows him weaving in and out trying to avoid hitting anybody. IIRC the exit on I-70 would be around Colfax ave. or Colorado Mills Parkway. That's several miles down the road from where he had at that point lost his brakes.

Who was the trucking company that hired him? What kind of a record does this company have?

[brightdoglover]

^^ All good questions.

But life in prison? He'd be better off if he was driving drunk, a lot less time I think.

[Mr. In-Between]

I can't figure out what it was he did wrong.

OK, his brakes failed, and apparently he failed to divert onto a runaway lane (which he says he did not see). But I've found several articles in which both the judge and prosecutor say he made a series of terrible decisions, a series of mistakes, a number of bad decisions, etc. What exactly are all these "terrible mistakes"? Aside from missing the diversion ramp, what exactly did he do wrong? Are they blaming the brake failure on him?

Anyone know the rest of the story? What is it that makes this a crime, rather than an accident?

[StealthRabbit]

Remember.... It is Colorado law that requires the sentence.

No clemency for "I didn't mean to do it". The accident was not intentional, but the driver admittedly made several disastrous decisions, including failing to take the designated remedy purposely provided for his problem (escape ramp). These are well marked and have a broad target.

Alternatively, he should have ditched his vehicle off the right side of the road. Never taking a risk to cross a median.

Some petition sites are asking for only the employer to be charged. But the employer did not make the poor decisions that caused the deaths and injuries and physical damage. The employer hired someone who had passed CDL skill and health criteria. (Be advised.... Current USA administration is trying to drop the Interstate CDL age from 21 to 18).

Houston based driver and company, so possibly the Texas CDL test does not have the emphasis on properly and safely traversing mountains in a heavy vehicle. His training and experience was certainly deficit. Maybe the driver didn't have a father or grandfather, or youth mentor that beat and scolded him for making irrational decisions that could kill him or others. Like military training, many of us learned these risks in perilous conditions with potentially deadly outcomes. (I had lost 5 friend to farm accidents BEFORE HS.)

Maybe there should be increased training and certification for those who do (including RV and casual drivers towing or in a heavily loaded vehicle.). CDL has a pretty high bar of expectations, and equally stringent rules and penalties. (We aren't allowed traffic school or referrals, don't expect a warning, and when the DOT officer audits your rig they WILL find something to give you a $1000 ticket, or put you out-of-service.)

Don't jump to judgement conclusions, emotion, sympathy, intent.... If you want something different.... Follow the protocol that will change the law.

Don't forget the 'other' trucking accident that killed the family of 5 headed to Littleton, on their way to being assigned to Japan. (+ Another victim died later from injury related to this accident)
https://time.com/4439442/minnesota-f...nary/?amp=true
https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/...illed-in-crash

It's a dangerous world out there, especially on USA highways.
Texas roads kill over 10/day, Colorado is much less, but WY and KS have pretty high traffic deaths. One errant driver near my rural Texas home took out 13 seniors headed home from a weekend retreat. https://abc7ny.com/amp/church-accide...crash/1825591/

Another took out 4 motorcyclists (all police officers) in front of my home. 11 am on a Saturday morning... crossed centerline. None of these were "intentional".

55yr sentence, but Texas is very lenient, and these accidents were not while on professional duty driving commercially. (A much higher standard of performance and expectation).

[BarryK123]

What's wrong here with the drunk driving comparison is - why are drunk driving penalties not stiffer?