Trucker fined $250 for Highway 80 pile-up
By Diana Royal Staff Writer

The driver of a tractor-trailer that slammed into three stopped vehicles at a construction zone walked away from State Court last week with a $250 fine.

Louis Carter of Augusta pleaded guilty to a charge of following too closely before State Court Judge Jerry Daniel.

During the sentencing, Solicitor General Jack Cox asked the judge to take into consideration the severity of the accident, which took place in September of this year and injured four people.

"But he has insurance," Judge Daniel pointed out while adding that Carter's record showed no previous citations in his 35 years of driving trucks.

"Insurance does not cover the laws that were broken," Cox responded, recalling how Carter was "going full blast" and just crashed into the stopped vehicles. "I'm trying to put myself in their shoes," he continued, as he referred to the 31-year-old victim who suffered a broken neck. "I wouldn't want someone to only pay a seventy-five dollar fine if my neck was broken and my life would never be the same."

"I'd say 'thank God he had insurance,'" Judge Daniel said, to which Cox responded, "So people who can't afford insurance should be punished and those who can shouldn't?"

Cox recommended that the judge impose the maximum $500 fine for the charge, while also suspending Carter's commercial driver's license.

"I'll split it with you," Judge Daniel said, handing down the $250 fine and stating "for the record" that he respected Cox's opinion and only lowered the fine because Carter had insurance.

The victim's attorney, James Thompson, said the family wished for the court to do what it would normally do for such charges.

The accident occurred on Highway 80 West, at the intersection of Story Mill Road. Officers said Carter realized too late that the line of vehicles was stopped, and he was unable to slow down.

One of the injured, a Decatur woman, reported her dog missing after the wreck, and was later reunited with "LoveDog" after deputy Louise Graydon found him wandering near the scene.