After pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and additional charges, one Ohio truck driver is facing up to 31 years behind bars for causing a trucking accident that killed three Marine Corps recruits and injured nine additional drivers and passengers.

A forensic toxicologist report shows that Valium and a similar drug were present in the 46-year-old defendant's body at the time of the crash. Footage from a dashboard camera shows the Ohio truck driver lacked any sort of reaction as he first crashed into the Marine Corps recruiter's car and then went careening into several additional cars, six in total. The chief forensic toxicologist reported that, "Prior to the crash, the defendant appears to stare, as if hypnotized, a classic effect of the drug in his system." Furthermore, he never even attempted to apply the brakes.

This is not the first instance of the Ohio trucker encountering legal issues for substance abuse charges. Additionally, the prison time may not be the trucker's only consequence. As a result of the crash, a number of civil suits have been filed against the trucker and the trucking company.

Depending on the outcome of that litigation, the victims of this accident could be entitled to compensation. Those that were injured in the accident can use the compensation to cover medical expenses resulting from their injuries and to cover lost wages. The families of the victim's that were killed could also be entitled to compensation for their grieving and losses.

The innocent victims of this accident deserve full and fair coverage for their injuries and losses.

Source: Fleet Owner, "Ohio trucker faces 31 years in prison for fatal crash," Deborah Whistler, Feb. 29, 2012