Jacksonville truck driver Alvin Wilkerson was sentenced to seven years in prison for killing 7 children in a horrible trucking accident in Union County. Wilkerson fell asleep at the wheel of his tractor trailer before plowing into a car carrying 7 children from the same Florida family. The children’s grandfather, William Edward Scott, also died from a heart attack after learning of the deaths.
Wilkerson was 25 miles into his 85 mile trip hauling water from High Springs when he fell asleep. On average 5000 trucks a year are involved in fatal crashes. Of these accidents 2% are because of drivers falling asleep. Wilkerson was said to have been up for 36 hours when the crash happened. I can’t help but to think that with the price of gas being so high truckers maybe pushing themselves more and more to stay awake to get more jobs done.