A truck driver was charged with two counts of felony reckless driving for his involvement in a 44-vehicle Interstate 94 pileup in January.
The fatal pileup involving 38 cars and six semi-trucks occurred on January 17th on I-94 in Southwest Michigan.
According to mlive.com, shortly after the pileup, Michigan police issued 20 traffic citations to drivers involved — 16 going to car drivers and four going to semi-truck drivers.
The traffic violations ranged from following to closely, to failure to reduce speed.
On Friday, 40-year-old truck driver Timothy Martinez was charged with two felonies. Police say Martinez was driving his semi truck in a reckless manner and crashed into a disabled vehicle, causing the only two deaths in the pileup.
The first charge, reckless driving causing serious impairment of a bodily function carries a maximum penalty of 5 years. The second charge, reckless driving causing death, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years.
Martinez was the only person in the 44-vehicle crash to be charged with a felony.