NEWARK, N.J.--The driver of a tractor-trailer truck that plowed
into a limousine van carrying comedian Tracy Morgan and several
friends, killing one person and severely injuring Morgan and two
others, was speeding in the final moments before the crash,
according to a preliminary report released on Thursday.
Wal-Mart driver Kevin Roper was going 65 mph in a 45 mph zone
just before the June 7 crash on the northbound New Jersey Turnpike,
according to the National Transportation Safety Board's report. The
crash killed 62-year-old James McNair of Peekskill, N.Y..
The NTSB used the truck's electronic engine-control system to
calculate how fast Mr. Roper was driving. "A preliminary review of
the data showed that the Peterbilt combination vehicle was
traveling at 65 mph for the 60 seconds preceding the collision with
the Mercedes-Benz limo van," the report concluded.
Traffic was slowed by construction that blocked two of the
highway's three lanes. According to the NTSB report, a sign warned
of the lane closures about a mile south of where the accident
occurred, and another sign a half-mile closer directed motorists to
reduce their speed from 55 mph to 45 mph.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. trucks are equipped with devices that limit
the vehicles' speed to 65 mph, a spokeswoman said, so Mr. Roper,
who was driving for the retailer, was going at the top speed
possible.
Drivers are required to follow the posted speed limit under
Wal-Mart policy, spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said on Thursday.
"Of course we expect our drivers to comply with the laws,
whether it's a speed limit, or (something else)," she said. "We
don't condone speeding."
She otherwise declined to comment on the report, citing the
continuing investigation.
The truck struck Morgan's limo from behind, sending it into
other vehicles and eventually onto its side. Morgan is hospitalized
in fair condition with a broken leg and other injuries.
Mr. Morgan's assistant, Jeffrey Millea, of Shelton, Connecticut,
has also been upgraded to fair condition, according to Mr. Morgan's
spokesman. Hospital officials said Monday that comedian Ardie
Fuqua, of Jersey City, remains in critical condition.
Mr. Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, Georgia, has pleaded not guilty to
death by auto and assault by auto charges. A criminal complaint
accuses him of not sleeping for more than 24 hours before the
crash, a violation of New Jersey law.
The NTSB report said investigators were still probing Mr.
Roper's activities in the days leading up to the crash to determine
the amount of rest he received.
It concluded that Mr. Roper left a Wal-Mart facility in Smyrna,
Delaware, at about 11:30 a.m. local time on June 6 and made stops
in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania during the day. Just after
midnight on June 7 he left Bristol, Pennsylvania, en route to Perth
Amboy, New Jersey, when the crash occurred about 30 minutes into
his trip.
The timetable appears to show Mr. Roper wasn't in violation of
federal rules that permit truck drivers to work up to 14 hours a
day, with a maximum of 11 hours behind the wheel. He had been on
duty about 13 1/2 hours at the time of the accident, according to
the report.
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