Indiana Accident News

Lafayette, Indiana Truck Driver Gets Traffic Ticket After Running Over Teen On Motorcycle

In September, a semi truck traveling near Tippecanoe Mall miles from Lafayette, Indiana, struck and killed a teen motorcycle driver. Four months later, the truck driver has been issued a traffic ticket but not charged for the fatal accident.

According to jconline.com, John F Stillabower, a 47-year-old truck driver from Indianapolis struck 19-year-old Bradley Trifone on September 23, 2008 at the intersection of Sagamore Parkway South and Teal Road. Trifone was a student at Purdue University who happened to be celebrating his 19th birthday on the day of the collision and received the bike as a present. He was attending Purdue on a full ROTC scholarship.

The bike was stopped at a red light and the truck was stopped at the same light behind the biker. When the light turned, the truck accelerated and ran over the motorcycle.

After the motorcycle was struck, Trifone was dragged 300 feet by the truck driven by Stillabower. He died at the scene of the accident. However, Stillabower will not be charged with any greater infraction because, according to authorities, his actions that lead to the fatal crash were not deliberate. Drugs and alcohol did not play a role in the crash.

The ticket has been issued for an unsafe start - Indiana law delineates that drivers should not start a vehicle that is stopped, standing, or parked until they can move with reasonable safety. The ticked was for an amount of $130, which Stillabow has already paid, according to Judge Michael Morrissey.

The truck driver has still requested a bench trial, which has been scheduled to begin in Tippecanoe Superior Court 6 on Monday. This trial is expected to reiterate the opinion of local police and authorities - that Stillabower did not act deliberately to hurt the motorcycle driver, but rather made the mistake of starting his truck before he had reasonable control of the safety of the vehicle's movement.

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