Two drivers charged in four highway deaths
Long awaited charges of vehicular homicide were filed this past week by Marion County Attorney Susan Robson in Marion County District Court against two truck drivers involved in U.S.-50 accidents.
J.B. Miser, 62, Emporia, and Michael W. Hardwick, 50, El Paso, Texas, were charged in two separate accidents on the dangerous stretch of highway in Marion County.
On May 10, Miser was the driver of a semi tractor-trailer when he failed to stop for road construction. Miser's vehicle struck a line of vehicles that had stopped in the construction zone.
Two Marion women, Brandi R. Billbe, 40, and Lori B. Leeders, 42, were killed in the collision.
Less than two months later, on June 28, two men from Mexico and Canada were killed when a semi driven by Hardwick also failed to stop in a work zone and rear-ended the pickup truck in which the two men were riding.
Vehicular homicide charges a person with "unintentional killing of a human being during the operation of an automobile" or other motorized vehicle
The charges are Class A person misdemeanors with maximum penalties of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Charges are pending regarding a third accident that occurred the following day, June 29, when a semi driver failed to stop in a construction zone which resulted in the deaths of five people.
Since the accidents occurred, Kansas Department of Transportation now requires drivers to change lanes prior to the area where vehicles stop for construction. The lane change was designed to make drivers more attentive to the upcoming road construction and alert workers and drivers should a driver be inattentive.
