A texting trucker, who spilled paint all over an interstate in Maryland, has been arrested. The trucker, David M. Vaughn, 33, an employee of RDF Logistics Inc, spilled 6,500 gallons of yellow and white paint on the road.
A texting trucker, who spilled paint on an interstate, has been charged by Maryland authorities. Meet David M. Vaughn, a 33-year-old trucker from Ohio, who almost painted a town yellow.
On Wednesday, Mr. Vaughn had an urge to send one of those funny or pointless text messages as he drove on Interstate 68 in western Maryland and lost control of his tractor–trailer.
The accident where thankfully no one was injured left the State Highway Administration asking a very strange question: How do you clean up 6,500 gallons of paint that splashed on several hundred feet of pavement?
According to the police, “there was enough spilled paint to fill an above-ground swimming pool.” The crazy twist in this story is that the trucker was actually carrying traffic paint, which is used to paint durable white and yellow stripes on the highway.
State Highway Administration spokesman David Buck said that it is very hard to remove the paint and added:
“We can’t wash it off. The stuff that’s on the road literally has to be scraped off.”
The spill caused by the trucker created a major traffic jam, and both lanes were closed for about 12 hours. Buck stated:
“The westbound lanes were shut down after the 6:14 p.m. crash, with traffic rerouted through Hancock using U.S. 522 and Md. 144.”
According to the official, the cleanup will take about four days, and they are forced to close the Baltimore and Washington lanes.
Mr. Vaughn was not injured and was helped out of the rig by a motorist. The trucker was arrested and charged with negligent driving and using a hand-held mobile phone while operating a commercial vehicle.
He has since posted bail, returned to his home in Ohio and refused to speak to the media. The trucking company, RDF Logistics Inc, which employs Vaughn and has its headquarters in Ohio, has no comments on the story.
What are your thoughts on the texting trucker?
Police: look at the mess you made, it will cost the state hundreds of dollars to clean it up.
Trucker: Hey, I’m an artist and wanted to create a modern painting.
I bet they wish it would only cost hundreds of dollars. Thousands is more likely.
It looks like the driver killed a million baby chickens. Personally I like it, the yellow brightens up the place. Keep it around till end of summer.
Let us be grateful this insane man did not hurt anyone as he was texting “honey is dinner ready?”
That paint looks very sticky. I ll be avoiding this area for the next few weeks. Once your wheels have turned yellow, it will be difficult to remove it.
Millions of drivers in the U.S. are guilty of sending/receiving texts, phone calls, listening to music/radio, drinking anything from coffee to soda to alcohol, eating, putting up with/trying to comfort kids of all ages – any number of distractions/routines on a daily basis.
This driver was careless and reckless with an extremely heavy/dangerous vehicle that could have killed many people; but before everyone condemns him make sure you’re not guilty of one of these actions as well.
As this article is focusing on Cell Phone use, a couple of suggestions: Jammer.
Cell phone jammers should be mandatory in every vehicle, large and small. If the vehicle is in any gear other than Park, it would be active and cell service would be nonexistent.
Also, if cell phone manufacturers would modify their ‘Driving Mode’ to only allow network/gps service when using a navigation app so you could still use your phone while driving if it’s for directions (combined with a cell phone jammer).
Anyone have other ideas?
Only an insane asshole would cast the first stone as if they’ve never texted while driving.
Cell Phone Whistle Blower law:
Pass a law that rewards law-abiding, concerned citizens for reporting illegal phone use. Make the penalties steep and give “whistle blowers” 1/3 of the fines, or $100, whichever is more. Make repeat penalties grow exponentially for drivers who continue to endanger others, and unpaid fines result in the boot to render the scofflaw’s vehicle useless.
Just have other (non-driving) road users take a quick pic of a driver breaking the law and the vehicle license plate, send it to the DMV and you get a hundred bucks! And if you’re caught driving and taking a picture of another driver, the fine’s doubled. This will help prevent “unintended consequences” of idiots causing accidents while taking pictures of other drivers!
We know we don’t have NEARLY the number of police to effectively enforce cell phone laws, so let the public help out.
Pretty simple. The public gets rewarded for reporting scofflaws and we get safer roads!