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New York Truck Driver Kills Woman While Distracted By Porn

National attention has been given to distracted truck drivers on our roads – but how distracted are truckers? A shocking fatal big rig accident in Buffalo, New York, has many people wondering about current trucking regulations and distracted driving safety issues.

Buffalo Police say that 45-year-old Thomas Wallace was watching pornographic movies on a laptop computer as he drove his tractor-trailer down the New York State Thruway. While distracted, he struck a disabled car on the shoulder, killing the driver. A mother of two, 33-year-old Julie Stratton, of Snyder, had hit a deer just prior to the NY truck accident and called 911 for emergency help.

The truck accident, which occurred on Interstate 90 outside of Pembroke, New York, totaled Stratton’s car. The truck driver has been charged with second-degree manslaughter by New York State Police.

Further investigation revealed that not only was Wallace operating a laptop and watching porn while driving, but that he was also driving without enough hours of sleep logged. He had only slept for four hours out of the last 27 hours logged.

It is unclear how common truckers watch movies or use laptops while driving their 80,000 pound commercial vehicles, though many claim that they can multi-task while keeping their eyes on the road. However, recent studies have shown that texting truckers are 23 times more likely to cause a big rig accident. Just this month, federal lawmakers made it illegal for truckers to text or use mobile devices to surf the internet while driving.

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