Truck in Fatal Kentucky Crash Lacked Recorder

May 18, 2010

Federal investigators say there was no electronic recorder on a truck that crossed the median on Interstate 65 in Kentucky and killed the truck driver and 10 others.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson says along with lacking a recorder, the manual log kept by the driver, 45-year-old Kenneth Laymon of Alabama, was destroyed in the fire caused by the crash.

Knudson says investigators generally look to those to determine how long a driver had been on the road.

Laymon’s truck crossed the median on I-65 near Munfordville on March 26, striking a van carrying Mennonites traveling to a wedding in Iowa. Two young children survived the crash.

Kentucky State Police have previously said Laymon’s cell phone was active around the time of the crash and that tests were negative for drugs or alcohol in his system.