In July 2014, Raymond Ragen aged 45 was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Judge William donning, Nassau County for causing a fatal accident including a school bus containing special- need children. Ragen was imprisoned after 3 weeks of trial of vehicular assault and manslaughter. He was cleared of the big charge of intensified vehicular homicide. The bus driver, Jorge Guevara aged 45, perished on spot and the bus monitor, Louis Kagura, 65, suffered crippling injuries and undertook two surgeries; underwent hip replacement and a metal rod was placed in his knee. In addition, a six aged autistic boy grieved from the broken jaw, a permanent facial scarring and detached lip. In accordance to the assistant district lawyer Brendan Ahearn, Raymond was conversing on his cell phone and was high on valium while driving the truck on Oyster Bay Lane, locus valley in June 2012. The truck then knocked a 2-foot high elongated Island Railroad overpass, due to the impact force, the truck was pushed into opposite lane and collided head-on with the school bus carrying school children with special need and the driver, Guevara was pronounced dead on spot. Although nothing can get back Mr. Guevara, the sentence passed ensured the defendant is held liable for the suffering and pain imposed upon all victims. In addition, the victims filed a lawsuit with the help of an accident lawyer against the trucking company for hiring Mr. Ragen who had criminal records that including drug convictions.

Woman killed after fourteen-ton tractor trailer having inadequate brakes collided into Ithaca restaurant.

Amanda Bush, a bartender at Simenon’s, a popular bistro in Ithaca, died in June 2014 when a big tractor trailer hauling passenger car collided into the restaurant. Viacheslav Grychanyi, the truck driver aged 37 was issued by the police two traffic violations; first, driving an over-lengthened trailer and second, driving a trailer with inadequate brakes. According to eyewitnesses, the truck was moving around 45 mph when it smashed on the side of the restaurant. Police investigations indicated that the truck was directed towards a pedestrian mall, but in an effort to evade hitting construction employees in the pedestrian region, the driver tried to turn-off the truck onto a side road. But, the truck flicked through the concrete barrier before hitting into the restaurant. According to the insurance institute for highway safety, 90 percent of the highway fatalities involve trucks. Since trucks require space and time to stop, inadequate brakes are often the common cause of truck accidents. In accordance to this and many more casualties involving truck accidents, national highway traffic safety administrations, put forward a regulation necessitating large trucks to be installed with electronic stability control (ESC) which would serve two functions; first, by automatically regulating engine and braking power, technology would prevent trucks from rolling. Second, would help a truck driver maintain control and prevent sliding in the wrong direction. Currently, it’s not clear if the truck tangled in the serious Ithaca accident was furnished with ESC, in addition, an accident is under study by the officers from Ithaca Police Department with the help of an accident lawyer to determine the possible means of prosecution.