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[JREwing78]

The company in question has since gone defunct. Whether that's a sufficient penalty for faulty maintenance, or whether those responsible for any lack of maintenance should be individually held responsible - well, that's up to the victim's families at this point.

I have a hard time mustering up much sympathy for Mr. Aguilera-Mederos. He accepted the load and the truck in the condition they were in. He failed to learn basic information about trucking in a mountain setting. He failed to perform several basic steps to safely navigate the I-70 corridor in his truck. He didn't take the runaway truck ramp when offered to him. He had no business driving that truck, and yet he did it anyway to tragic consequences.

I could seen an argument for a 20 year sentence being more appropriate to the crime. But he's far from blameless. He needs to do hard time for his actions.

[DJStephens]

   No.  The driver should be held accountable for incompetence shown in the video.  Yes, the sentence was too harsh. 
   Don't think we know if the truck had faulty brakes from the beginning.
   That said, the company should be held accountable for putting an under-trained and inexperienced driver on that route.  Has any action been taken against his employer?

Agreed on these points.  The question still remains - why did the driver avoid using the runaway ramps???  JR Ewings statement that he will wind up doing 20 years is probably what will happen. 

[kalvado]

   No.  The driver should be held accountable for incompetence shown in the video.  Yes, the sentence was too harsh. 
   Don't think we know if the truck had faulty brakes from the beginning.
   That said, the company should be held accountable for putting an under-trained and inexperienced driver on that route.  Has any action been taken against his employer?

Agreed on these points.  The question still remains - why did the driver avoid using the runaway ramps???  JR Ewings statement that he will wind up doing 20 years is probably what will happen.

Runaway ramp is one single mistake which really makes a difference.
However, bigger message IMHO is that in a race to the bottom company will not support the driver should anything happen, and everyone is willing to throw driver under the bus (or truck). Be it on schedule or in case of an accident. Way to attract quality workforce.
And with self driving being always just a few years away...

[hbelkins]

   No.  The driver should be held accountable for incompetence shown in the video.  Yes, the sentence was too harsh. 
   Don't think we know if the truck had faulty brakes from the beginning.
   That said, the company should be held accountable for putting an under-trained and inexperienced driver on that route.  Has any action been taken against his employer?

Agreed on these points.  The question still remains - why did the driver avoid using the runaway ramps???  JR Ewings statement that he will wind up doing 20 years is probably what will happen.

The video I saw showed the truck between the center and left lanes, with no one in the right lane to impede his access to the runaway ramp. It also showed the truck's brakes smoking.

[kkt]

This is terrible. It's hard to believe a person who drives for a living would overlook the dangers of driving his out of control truck straight into heavy traffic. Really, 23 year old drivers should stay off tricky roads like that part of I-70. Those jobs should go to more experienced drivers.

If companies paid those who drive for a living a better wage as well as the mechanics, their accident rate would go down.  Turnover rates run in the 100% territory for many of the major carriers.  Management forgets the most valuable capital is human capital.  Truck drivers, as opposed to nuts behind the wheel, do not grow on trees! 

Rick

Wow, I find myself in full agreement!  That either means the universe is about to end... or that we're both right.  One of the two.

[ilpt4u]

Just to put a button on the sentancing issue, the Governor of Colorado commuted the sentence of the driver from the original 110 years to now 10 years

I guess Governor powers of commutation is a partial guard against minimum sentences

https://www.fox21news.com/top-stories/governor-polis-grants-commutation-to-i-70-truck-driver-reduces-sentence-to-10-years/

[zzcarp]

Just to put a button on the sentancing issue, the Governor of Colorado commuted the sentence of the driver from the original 110 years to now 10 years

I guess Governor powers of commutation is a partial guard against minimum sentences

https://www.fox21news.com/top-stories/governor-polis-grants-commutation-to-i-70-truck-driver-reduces-sentence-to-10-years/

The governor didn't wait for the judicial process to play out. There was a hearing scheduled for January 13 for sentence reduction, but the governor short-circuited that. He also released the commutation during the major fire on Saturday, thus shielding his move from media scrutiny.

[Rothman]

The Governor set the fire?

[US 89]

The Governor set the fire?

This is actually a fascinating conspiracy theory because the previous explanation for how the fire started (downed power lines in the wind) turned out to be not true. All we know is that the Boulder County sheriff's department served a warrant related to the fire at a private address nearby.

[triplemultiplex]

Pretty lame conspiracy theory.
Go big or go home:
It was Israeli space lasers! DERRPPTT!