In an alarming case that demonstrates the increasing dangers posed by personal electronic devices being used behind the wheel, a truck driver in Arizona has been charged after crashing his big rig into three cop cars. Not only did the distracted driver hit the three stopped police vehicles, the force of the terrible accident resulted in the death of one officer. To top the tragic affair off, video obtained from the truck’s cabin show that the driver, 33-year-old Jorge Espinoza, was distracted by pornography on his cell phone at the time of the crash.
Accident reports reveal that the Espinoza’s tractor-trailer was going 65 miles per hour when it slammed into three police cars and two fire trucks. The terrible accident left 47-year-old officer Tim Huffman dead. Witnesses say Huffman was sitting in his patrol car writing a report at the time of the accident. Fellow officers had to bring out the Jaws of Life to extract Huffman from the vehicle, but it was too late, he was declared dead at the scene of the wreck.
According to footage obtained by an Arizona newspaper, Espinoza was going 65 miles per hour at the time of the crash with his cruise control engaged. Records that were obtained from the driver’s phone company reveal that he was looking at a variety of websites while driving, including immediately before the accident. The sites included Facebook, YouTube female escort webpages and various porn sites.
A video of Espinoza’s cabin shows that he never even saw the stopped vehicles before slamming into them, meaning that Espinoza never even hit his brakes. The dash camera does show that the force of the accident caused his cell phone to fly out of his hand. You might be wondering why Espinoza would be on his phone in the first place if he knew there was a camera in the cab of his truck. According to investigators, Espinoza hid his phone by placing his wallet in front of the camera, a successful means of disguising the phone.
Espinoza is now facing a variety of criminal charges related to the distracted driving crash including one count of second-degree murder, 13 counts of endangerment and six of criminal damage.
Experts say the case is an especially tragic reminder of how much risk is involved in distracted driving and how taking our eyes off the road for even a few seconds is all it takes to make a fatal mistake. Given increases in technology it is possible to occupy and entertain ourselves at almost any moment. However, just because we can does not mean we should. When driving, make sure to direct all your attention on the road in front of you, not the browser on your cell phone.
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