Two weeks ago, a Wyoming wreck police believe was caused by “driver fatigue” destroyed two trucks, shut down Interstate 80 for more than 5 hours, and injured three people. Now one of the men involved in the accident has released additional information on the cause of the crash.
The incident occurred back on Tuesday, June 27th, when a Swift Transportation truck driving west on I-80 struck a KLLM truck that was parked on the shoulder in foggy conditions, causing significant damage to both vehicles.
The driver of the Swift truck, 37-year-old Donald Wates Trombley, was cited for improper use of lanes.
His co-driver, James Gault, recently contacted LiveTrucking.com and said he “felt compelled” to share some unreported information after seeing readers’ comments about the incident.
“The KLLM truck was being driven by a student driver who felt he was getting tired and decided to park on the shoulder, in the pre-dawn fog, without flashers,” said Gault, who was in the truck’s sleeper berth at the time of the crash.
Gault says that there were far better places to pull over in the area, such as an exit half a mile before the scene of the accident, an exit one mile after the scene of the accident or even an exit two miles ahead with four available truck stops.
“Even though in the end, my on-duty co-driver did cross over the line and hit that truck, there is a bit of negligence on the part of KLLM’s driver,” Gault continued.
“Again, that doesn’t absolve my co-driver of the major responsibility, of course,” he added.
Gault is currently on leave from work due to injuries sustained in the accident and is working with an attorney on resolving workers compensation issues related to the incident.