Bus Crash Tied To Drug Use
The investigation to find out just what caused a motor vehicle accident can take a long time. Gathering the evidence, the expert testimony and accident reconstruction can all have their part to play to get to the truth.
According to an article appearing on the CBS local station website in Dallas-Fort Worth, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have determined the cause of a deadly crash that occurred in March of 2017 on U.S. 83 near the Concan, approximately 80 miles west of San Antonio. Federal investigators have concluded in a report released last Tuesday that the cause of the accident was due to a driver who had been using marijuana and other sedatives at the time of the fatal crash.
The motorist, Jack Dillion Young, drove his vehicle head-on into a church bus. Young survived the crash himself; however, 13 of the congregants on board the bus who were returning from a church-sponsored retreat were not so lucky.
NTSB investigators said that Young had been driving erratically, at times in the wrong side of the road for extended periods. At the time of the head-on collision, While Young might have been distracted by looking at his cellphone just before the crash, the NTSB doesn’t believe that explains the nearly 15 minutes of erratic driving behavior reported by witnesses to the accident. Investigators now believe that the long period of erratic driving can be directly attributed to Young’s use of a sedative and marijuana. By his own admission, Young had taken twice the prescribed dosage of the sedative just prior to the crash.
In May, Young appeared in court and pleaded no contest to intoxication assault and 13 counts of intoxication manslaughter. Each manslaughter conviction carries a potential sentence of 20 years in prison and up to 10 years for the assault charge. The cumulative charges could mean that Young is facing living out the rest of his life in prison.
Young’s sentencing is scheduled sometime in November.
