State police say the investigation into the deadly pileup continues but didn’t say whether any additional people would be charged.
MANCHAC, La. — A truck driver is now facing criminal charges in the deadly series of collisions on I-55 near Manchac in October.
The visibility was near zero on the interstate that day when a mixture of wildfire smoke and fog covered the highway.
Ronald Britt, 61, was driving his big rig in the “super-fog” and was involved in the 168-vehicle pileup that left 7 people dead and 63 injured.
According to the state police, Britt lost control of his Freightliner truck and rear-ended a Cadillac sedan, killing 60-year-old James Fleming and injuring his wife, Barbara Fleming.
“He was just driving too fast for the conditions,” LSP spokesman Trooper Jacob Puchee said. “The visibility was nearly zero. Whatever speed he was going was deemed to be reckless at the time.”
Britt is the first driver to be charged in the pileup that closed parts of I-55 for days.
“Mr. Flemming had not been involved in a crash,” Pucheu said. “He was able to safely stop before reaching the vehicles that had been in minor crashes. But shortly thereafter was when Britt’s vehicle crashed into the Flemmings.”
Britt, who is from Lafayette, was booked into the St. John Parish Correctional Center on counts of negligent homicide, negligent injuring, reckless operation, and other traffic charges including speeding.
Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino says it’s unusual to see criminal charges brought in a horrific accident like this.
“Perhaps if the driver was texting or drinking or sleeping when he knew he should have stopped driving, maybe then you might expect to see some charges like this,” Ciolino said. “Perhaps it remains to be seen what additional negligent acts other than being inattentive, driving too fast this driver may have been engaged in.”
Ciolino added it will be up to the St. John District Attorney to decide whether to prosecute Britt on the charges.
“99 percent of all of the car crash court litigation is civil other than drunken driving type cases you don’t really see criminal charges arising out of traffic accidents,” Ciolino said.
Britt surrendered to authorities on Monday.
He was released on a $26,500 bond.
State police say the investigation into the deadly pileup continues.
They didn’t say whether any additional people would be charged.
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