Report: Driver took muscle relaxers prior to fatal accident

Clark County

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May 26, 2010

Flexeril, Lortab listed in report regarding city of Jeffersonville employee

By DAVID A. MANN David.Mann@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Wed May 26, 2010, 01:13 AM EDT

JEFFERSONVILLE — A city of Jeffersonville employee had taken Lortab and Flexeril hours before a garbage packer he was driving was involved in a five-vehicle accident that killed a Borden teenager May 6, according to a report from the city.

The employee, Roger E. Crum Jr., 45, of Marysville, had been prescribed the medication because of lower back pain, according to the report. During an initial interview, he told investigators he only took his medications at night.

However, Crum stated in a second interview that he had taken both of the medicines the morning of the accident, between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. The accident happened about 11:30 a.m. when Crum’s vehicle struck a 1994 Ford Aspire, driven by 19-year-old Bethany Burrier.

Burrier had been stopped on Ind. 60 between Perry Crossing and Ebenezer Church roads as road construction was taking place ahead of her. The accident set off a chain reaction involving three other vehicles, including another garbage packer and a flatbed truck. Three others were hospitalized. Crum Jr. was treated at the scene with minor injuries.

The report cites Food and Drug Administration prescription information in noting that Lortab can cause light-headedness, dizziness and sedation and can impair thinking and physical abilities required for driving or operating machinery.

Flexeril’s common side effects included dry mouth and dizziness, the report says. It also warns that caution should be used when driving or operating machinery.

Jeffersonville officials were apparently unaware that he’d taken the drug, despite training he’d received that directed drivers to report taking prescribed medications to supervisors.

Crum, along with a passenger, were on their way to the Clark-Floyd County Landfill in Borden. In the report, Crum states he did not see three orange signs which alerted motorists there was road work ahead. The signs were posted 1,500; 1,200 and 900 feet away from a flagger.

There also had been a radio transmission earlier in the day from another city driver advising of construction on Ind. 60. Crum said during interviews that he was out of the truck when that transmission was made.

According to an accident reconstruction that took place following the wreck, the city truck was traveling about 36 mph when the collision occurred, though he had been traveling about 53 mph when he applied the truck’s brakes. The skid marks on the road indicate he applied the brakes about 81 feet prior to the impact.

Jeffersonville Communications Director Larry Thomas declined to comment on the report, saying litigation was possible as a result of the accident. The only person authorized to comment on behalf of the city, Thomas said, was attorney Larry Wilder.

Wilder was called and sent a text message Tuesday but did not respond by press time.

A call placed to Clark County Sheriff’s Department Maj. Chuck Adams, typically a spokesman for the department — which is investigating the accident — was also not returned by press time.

The report was compiled by Dominick Mongarella, the city’s safety director. It included several recommendations, including a system by which employees confirm radio transmissions relevant to road and weather conditions.

The city also should consider constructing a transfer station which would allow fewer drivers to be on the highways to go to the landfill, the report said.

A “1-800-How’s-My-Driving” sticker system also was recommended.

Crum was placed on paid administrative leave the day after the crash, pending the outcome of the investigation.