The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says a 2009 crash that killed 10 people was likely caused by driver fatigue.
A combination of acute sleep loss, his shift work and mild sleep apnea caused 76-year-old driver Donald Creed to slam into several vehicles that had slowed down because of another minor crash along Interstate 4 near Miami, OK, according to the NTSB.
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol report had earlier blamed the crash on inattentive driving. The report said Creed never applied his truck’s brakes.
Creed was charged with 10 misdemeanor counts of negligent homicide. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 10 years of probation.
The NTSB also approved several recommendations in connection with the case, requiring:
- all motor carriers to adopt a fatigue management program
- all heavy commercial vehicles to be equipped with video event recorders, and
- all large trucks to use data recorders.
