 WASHINGTON (AP) — A Wal-Mart truck driver who hadn't slept in 28 hours failed to slow down despite posted warning signs and was responsible for a highway crash last year that severely injured comedian Tracy Morgan and killed another comedian, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. The passengers in the rear of the limo’s rear compartment were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, NTSB chairman Christopher Hart announced at a board meeting today, nor had they received a safety briefing outlining the benefits of seat belts. The truck traveled 0.9 miles past the first work zone sign and more than 0.4 miles past the 45 mph speed limit sign without slowing from 65 mph. “Had the truck driver been traveling at the posted work zone speed limit of 45 mph, it could have been stopped before impact,” NTSB investigator David Rayburn said today. Roper had driven over 800 miles overnight from Georgia to a Wal-Mart distribution center in Delaware to pick up a load before starting the trip without stopping for sleep. Since then, Wal-Mart has taken greater steps to educate drivers about fatigue and has said it will put in place a program to reduce fatigue, investigators said. It took emergency responders working with the assistance of other motorists 37 minutes to remove the first of the crash victims from the rear of the limo. Roper was later charged with one count of vehicular homicide and several counts of assault by auto, with authorities saying they believed he had dozed off behind the wheel.
– How are your reflexes after you've been awake for 28 straight hours? The NTSB says the driver of the truck that smashed into Tracy Morgan's limo was in that exact predicament, reports ABC News. Kevin Roper, 35, drove 800 miles from his home in Georgia to Delaware, where he got into his Walmart truck and embarked on a 14-hour trip, say NTSB investigators. In the 13th hour of that trip, Roper hit Morgan's vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike, killing one passenger and injuring Morgan and three others. In addition to driver fatigue, the NTSB also notes that Roper was doing 65 in a construction zone, 20mph over the limit, reports AP. “Had the truck driver been traveling at the posted work zone speed limit of 45mph, it could have been stopped before impact,” says NTSB investigator David Rayburn. The agency also says that neither Morgan nor the other passengers in the limo van were wearing seatbelts, which likely made their injuries worse. (Walmart has settled with Morgan, who vows to make people laugh again.)