HEADLINE: After accident that kills trooper, trucker ordered to shut down


Overdrive; Monday, December 10, 2012

Byline: Jill Dunn

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has declared a trucker an imminent hazard after his truck struck and killed a state trooper and has ordered him to cease all operations immediately Nov. 30.

 Georgia-licensed driver Johnny Felton, Jr .was driving on Interstate 55 near Litchfield, Ill., when he lost consciousness and his truck hit Trooper Kyle Deatherage, the agency stated. The 32-year-old Deatherage was conducting a traffic stop on the road’s shoulder about 9:30 a.m. Nov. 26.

Felton did not reveal a medical condition that would have disqualified him from commercial driving. The Nov. 30 out-of-service order was redacted so it did not indicate what condition he had, but that he carried prescriptions for it in the truck.