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Thursday, March 28, 2024

FMCSA Declares Driver Imminent Hazard

Missouri-licensed truck driver Bruce Andrew Pollard has been declared an imminent hazard to public safety by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Pollard is no longer allowed to operate any commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce. The federal order was served Aug. 2, 2019.

According to the FMCSA, Pollard was driving a tractor-trailer on July 14 faster than the posted speed limit in an active work zone on Interstate 465 in Indianapolis when his truck collided with the rear of a line of vehicles. A fire erupted. Two young children and their mother were killed. Seven other people were hospitalized.

After the crash, Indiana State Police arrested and charged Pollard with three counts of reckless homicide and one count of reckless operation of a vehicle in a highway work zone.

FMCSA investigators later found that Pollard had been disciplined and later terminated in April 2019 by his previous employer for repeated instances of unsafe driving.

When he applied for his latest truck driving position in June 2019, Pollard failed to disclose his employment with the previous motor carrier and failed to disclose his termination and the reason for his termination.  He also falsely certified on his job application that he had not previously been involved in a crash.

It is a violation of U.S. Department of Transportation and FMCSA regulations to make fraudulent or intentionally false statements on a federally required, safety-sensitive document.

Failure to comply with the provisions of a federal imminent hazard out-of-service order may result in action by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for equitable relief and punitive damages. Civil penalties of up to $1,848 may be assessed for each violation of operating a commercial motor vehicle in violation of the order. Knowing and/or willful violation of the order may also result in criminal penalties.

Pollard also may be subject to a civil penalty enforcement proceeding brought by FMCSA for violating the agency’s safety regulations.