Truck Driver Charged With Vehicular Homicide and DUI

Chattanooga, TN (WDEF) – The Chattanooga Police Department is charging 39-year-old Benjamin Brewer with six counts of vehicular homicide by impairment plus four other separate charges including driving under the influence for the tragic accident that took place June 25th on I-75.

The report says he had just gotten off of 50 hours of consecutive driving duty.

One truck driver tells News 12 how dangerous that amount of driving without rest really is.

"50 hours on duty is unacceptable for anybody," said Jarius Rogers who is a truck driver from Illinois. "That’s pretty much being on your job for 50 hours straight. Yeah, we have to take ten hour breaks and stuff like that and that’s good. We need it. Can we drive longer, our bodies? Yes some people can. Some people get out here and drive 20 hours safely but other people can’t so that’s why they got to set these guidelines. For everybody."

The weather was clear, the roadway dry, and warning signs were placed well in advance of the road construction that had cars stopped in the left lane and moving slowly in the center.

The report says at approximately 7:10 p.m. Brewer’s 2007 Peterbilt tractor plowed into a Toyota Prius and seven other vehicles killing six and sending six more to the hospital.

"This story right here, this is a heartbreaking story," said Rogers. "This guy shouldn’t have been driving. I think he needs to go to jail, prison for awhile."

In five years, the Chattanooga Police Department only worked one death on I-75 until this wreck.