On Thursday, truck driver Jason Woodyard was found not guilty on all 3 charges, including vehicular manslaughter, resulting from a crash on Northbound I-75 in Cincinnati, Ohio last September which killed 21 year old Zachary Byrd.
The crash occurred when two vehicles were stopped in the middle of the road due to an earlier accident, and the truck, unable to stop in time, barreled into both of them.
Traffic officers argued that the presence of coffee cups and 5 hour energy drinks in the rig indicated that the truck driver may have been drowsy.
However, due to the lack of skid or swerve marks from the tractor trailer, the jury determined that Woodyard was not driving at an excessive speed. In addition the black box which would have activated on a sudden change of acceleration did not trigger either.
The driver was acquitted on all 3 charges, the determination was that his big rig was simply unable to stop in time to avoid the collision.
