The Next Time You Think One Person Can’t Make A Difference
June 7, 2008 by Laura | Trackback URI
The next time you find yourself thinking that one person can’t make a difference… that it’s impossible for one person to impact the lives of many other people… I want you to remember Darryl Stipe. Because he managed to do this all on his own:
A truck-driver wanted for spilling mud in the Harvey tunnel and causing a 23-vehicle chain-reaction accident May 30 agreed Friday to turn himself in after state police secured a warrant for his arrest on negligent injury and other charges, a spokesman for the state police said.
A warrant secured either late Thursday night or early Friday morning names Darrell Stipe, 32, as wanted for hit-and-run, several counts of negligent injury, driving with an unsecured load and aggravated obstruction of a highway, said state trooper Joseph Piglia.
Eighteen people were taken to area hospitals in the wreck, which was touched off, police said, when Stipe, hauling mud for S&M Trucking in Bridge City, dumped much of his load while driving in the Harvey Tunnel about 1 p.m.
If he hadn’t taken off, I wouldn’t comment because they’re called accidents for a reason. Anyone can have an off day, anyone can make stupid mistakes, and unfortunately those things can sometimes have serious repercussions. But leaving the scene… there’s no excuse.
I don’t think he was aware that the load had came out… going through the tunnel can be quite bumpy….the Harvey tunnel at that….
He def shouldn’t get jail time… maybe fine but no jail….
I’ll be interested in seeing how that plays out in court; whether he claims he didn’t know, and if that claim is believable.
But given that the drunk driver who hit my mother and daughter got off pretty much scot-free in Jefferson Parish and no one seems to mind, I’d be pretty surprised if this resulted in any jail time.