The National Traffic Safety Board performed an investigation of a crash in 2019 that killed five children from Marksville. They’ve released their report and claim that the responsible driver had a medical emergency. KATC reports.
The children were in a church van heading to Disney World when the crash happened near Gainesville. A tractor trailer hit an Acura sedan from behind, crashed through the median barrier, and struck several vehicles head-on. In total, seven people were killed and eight others were injured. The trucker was one of the fatalities.
The report states that the truck driver became medically incapacitated before the crash. Autopsy results showed the driver has ischemic heart disease, a number of other medical conditions, and also took medication that could cause medical incapacitation.
It also states that during the driver’s most recent medical certification examination, he did not disclose all of his conditions or all of his medications. He received certifications that let him drive for two years before retesting.
However, had he disclosed them all, then he would have only received a shorter certification period. Additionally, his other health concerns would not have predicted the incapacitation on the day of the crash.
As for the truck, no defects were found at the scene, nor were there any problems with the maintenance records or with unrepaired recalls.
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