Petition to Urge Prosecuting Attorney to Press Charges against Truck Driver!

On August 15, 2013, an SUV containing seven members of the extended Williams family was rear-ended by a semi-truck while stopped in traffic approaching a work zone. The initial impact pushed the SUV into another semi ahead of them. The SUV subsequently burst into flames. The crash took the lives of Lindsey Williams, 27, and her two children, Yazmin Goldman, 5, and Arielle Goldman, 3, Lindsay’s sister, Yvette Williams, 35, and her two children, Jamin Osborne, 5, and Jazmin Osborne, 7, and the Williams sisters’ Uncle, Amado Mangual, 49. The truck drivers involved suffered minor injuries. To the dismay of the victims’ family, Christine Haskell, the Prosecuting Attorney for Jasper County, Indiana, has decided not to press charges on the truck driver that caused this crash. This decision has devastated the family seeking justice for their seven family members and their enormous loss. It is believed that several safety issues contributed to the crash that occurred on I-65. The lack of skid marks on the road indicate that the driver failed to slow down or brake before colliding with the family’s vehicle, and have led the Williams family to speculate that the truck driver was either inattentive or fatigued at the time of the crash. Truck driver fatigue has been an industry-wide health and safety issue for over 70 years and continues to be a major contributor to truck crashes. From 2009 to 2012, truck crash fatalities increased by 16 percent, and truck crash injuries increased by a staggering 40 percent, resulting in 104,000 injuries in 2012. Moreover, a 2006 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) study revealed that 65 percent of truck drivers reported they often or sometimes feel drowsy while driving and nearly half admitted they fell asleep while driving in the previous year. It is also believed that the semi-truck hit the SUV at Interstate speeds, violating the posted reduced speed in the work zone. The truck driver had a history of speeding violations prior to this crash. In fact, the driver had been ticketed for speeding at least five times since 2006. Trucks are over represented in fatal highway crashes and even more so in work zone fatal crashes. Although trucks account for about four percent of registered vehicles, they are involved in 11 percent of fatal highway crashes, and 27 percent of fatal work zone crashes involve at least one truck. The Williams family believes that Ms. Haskell’s failure to press charges sends a dangerous message to the trucking industry that violations of safety will be tolerated. The Williams family is seeking your support to help insure justice for their family and to prevent other families from having to endure a similar devastating loss. The Williams family would like to present this petition to Ms. Haskell and urge her to reconsider her position and press charges on the truck driver responsible for taking the lives of their seven family members.