Driver pleads not guilty in death of pedestrian

These charges against the truck driver are rediculous! This was an accident and the driver does not deserve to be punished. Living with the fact he accidently killed someone would be punishment enough for anyone. My heart goes out to the victim and his family, but how can you blame a driver who cannot see directly behind his vehicle like a car can? The victim couldnt see the driver, the driver couldnt see the victim. A tragic accident indeed.

As a Professional Truck Driver Instructor I teach my students that if you can not see behind you, get out of the vehicle, walk to the back and look to me sure it is clear to proceed. If you are not able to then don't back up!!! same thing I taught my kids when driving their cars.

That vehicle should have been equipped with a audible back up alarm and camera. Why does Waste Mangement and BFI have cameras on their similar type trucks!!!

I'm happy to see someone else feels sympathy for the driver. It was an accident. It is Ohio law that says there doesn't have to be any backup sounds or cameras. I understand the man was blind, and my prayers go out to his family, but you can hear those trucks from a mile away. It was such a terrible freak accident. I feel for the driver, and the company.

You know it is a tragic accident and every one and their mother keep cry about the man being blind, well if the kid was in suck poor health WHAT THE HECK was he doing walking alone up the road. The parents and the family should be the ones to blame not the truck driver. I have see many accidents in my life and in this situation it is truly tragic and completely an accident. It seems that every one is quick to point the blame at the truck driver but with all the medical problems this young man had, he should have been watched over more than he was. According to DOT those trucks do not require back up cameras or beepers. The only requirement is that they have at least three back up lights. And as far as the instructor goes your just stupid. The only time that advice will come in to play iwould be if the truck was parked and then moved.

BFI and Waste Management are both big companies. They have the money to install cameras that cost thousands of dollars that are constantly broken and needed fixed. Do your research before you go and attack a small company. Phoenix Disposal met Ohio Law with back up lights. And how are you supposed to get out of your truck and sit there and look for traffic when it is on a busy street? By the time you get back in, turn it on, get into gear, and look again, the traffic could be back. Please think before you speak.

wastepro- I also an a driver trainer and you are way off base with this one. You should know from personal driving experience that a garbage truck does not involve the same situations as a semi tractor and trailer combo. 1. You wouldnt back a 53' foot trailer out of a personal driveway without assistance. Most truck drivers who park in private drives BACK IN so they do not require assistance to back out. 2. You can get out and look 50 times, and by the time you get resituated in the cab someone can be directly behind your trailer again, including children who tend to dart quickly. 3. It is impossible and not feasible to find someone to spot your backing for you in a private driveway versus a shipping and receiving yard or a truck stop where other people are readily available. Pickups and deliveries in straight body style trucks require more backing and movement in residential areas than tractor trailer combos. The safest solution is to equip these smaller commercial vehicles with cameras.

What kind of people do they hire to drive these garbage trucks?....just not to long ago a garbage truck driver ran an intersection in New Middletown killing a young girl and her child. I've seen several of them in ditches. I sometimes think my child could drive better than them.

Tinnydrop just like wastepro you two really need to think about what you are writing. If you think you child could drive a garbage truck better then you really do not think often, do you? Driving these trucks is not easy. And yes with this occupation as well as others there are people that get hired that should not. In reguards to this instance it was nothing more than an accident and needs to be left at that. There does not need to have blame for what happened layed on anyones shoulders. The families involved have enought to deal with, without having to listen to idiots question situations they know nothing about other than what they have read. Just like the saying goes, "Don't judge a book by the cover". Think about it.

WOW... so according to Tinnydrop the driver is at fault? No way! Does anyone READ the facts, or do they just read the headline and assume they know what they are talking about?
1. Where he was picking up garbage, is at an apartment complex. Driving a front load truck, you can't BACK in to get the garbage, now can you? And sorry, the driver couldn't LIFT the garbage container. He had no choice but to drive in and back out.
2. Even backing out, had he gotten out of the truck, if the gentleman was down the street, he is not going to stand there to see where the gentleman is headed. Do you do that everytime you back out of somewhere? You see someone down the street walking, do you wait and see what direction and what speed they are walking at? Better yet, why not walk down the street and ask him where he's going?? That's a good way to get shot!

I find it amazing that it's so easy for someone to place blame on someone else, and no one can just say it's an accident. To the professional driver instructor, do you think that your above an accident? I can only pray that it doesn't happen to you. If it does, I will be here posting... did he get out of the truck and look???

Driving a garbage truck is not easy in the least. The difference between the accident in New Middletown and this one is that the driver was acting negelent! He was speeding and broke the law when he ran the stop sign! This driver was not breaking the law, and witnesses have even said that the truck was backing up slowly and with caution! If you think you can do it better, maybe you had better go apply. We will see if you can even pass your CDL.
I'm normally not this angry, but this is completely insane that charges are even being considered in this case. Maybe the procesucting attorney of Mahoning County needs to find his heart and understand that it is what it is.... and accident.

Audiobyme,
Tony had some health problems over the years of his life and he was legaly blind. He could see some out of his right eye, but he was self dependent. He didn't need anyone to hold his hand while he walked down a road that he had walked probably 1000 or more times before.So don't blame his parent or his family for not being with him. He was as normal as a blind person could be. There are blind people walking the streets everyday. Should we put all of them in a room and lock them up. No they learned to be dependent on noone.When the garbage trucks are built they are equiped with all the back up devices like the lights and video and beepers . It is up to the indavidual companys to maintain them. This truck had them at one time and all that remained were the wires. Yes It was a terrible accident. Something the man will have with him for the rest of his life. Then maybe the company should be liable for the accident in some way.

Hello, I want to say a few things. Yes it was an accident. We all understand that. The fact of the matter is that people have to be held accountable for the things they do even if it was an accident.

To the person who thinks that he was so sick he should be locked up in his room or something ... he was independent and wanted to be able to do things on his own. We had two kids, who he loved and wanted to be able to care for. Yes he was sick and had some problems but that doesn't mean he needed to be locked away. He wasn't gonna sit there and rot away, he tried to be himself and be around for his kids.

What people fail to realize is he did have two kids and the worse thing to do is to tell your 5 and 6 year old that "DADDY" is gone. I had to tell our kids what happen and why they can't see Daddy anymore.

People should be glad that he is only get a small charge. If you do research it is a Felony to hit a blind person when they are walking with there cane. This man " MIGHT " get only up to 90 days in jail. So he has to be without his family for maybe 90 days .. yeah he has to live with it for the rest of his life ... well my kids have to live WITHOUT there daddy for the rest of theres.
So yeah I think he should be charged .. and untill it happens to you, let me tell you that you will never know the feeling and how you are gonna feel toward the person who accidently killed one of your loved ones.

( I do understand everyone has the right to there own oppinion

Punishing the driver will not undo this, or give you any vindication. I would concentrate on bringing attention to the lack of safety devices on small commercial vehicles in Ohio and ask for CHANGE, so no one else ever has to go thru something like this in our state again.

My condolences to the family .I agree with CasAnn on this one. Nothing good will come out of jail time. I think the focus should be on better driver education and making sure something like this happens very rarely, if it happens at all.

There are two other important parts of this that people are not considering. One is the fact that the only two witness to the tragic ACCIDENT are for the defense. The other is that the driver will now have to live with the fact that he was involved in this ACCIDENT. D.O.T. does not require the back up beepers or cameras on these trucks but companies like Waste Management and BFI install them because the are world wide companies. Companies that are as small as this one is most of the time do not consider it an affordable cost. It total sucks bad that his children are having to deal with this. As a father I sympathize but placing this man in jail will not bring him back. If you want to lay the blame on some one blame the inconsiderate people that felt they could not waste their time to explain to the officers what actually happened. The people that saw exactly what happened and left the scene because they could not be bothered with getting involved. Particularly, the lady that drove the blue van that actually yelled out her window to let the driver know he had ran some one over and then proceeded to leave the scene. She has not been heard from since. Blame people like that.

There are only two laws that are in question here. 1.) One must yeild for the blind. Clement failed to do this, so yes he should be charged with that. 2.) One must use vigilance when backing up. (That is everyone, you and me must use alertness and watchfullness) Clement failed to do this. Clement should be held accountable for this "accident" He failed to use alertness and watchfullness whatever it took to ensure that this "accident" did not occur. Clement Davis knew that the truck that he was driving had back up beepers installed but where tampered with (cut on purpose) he also knew that the back up camera was not working. He had smudges on his windows (he should have washed them) He should have did whatever it took. He killed someone because of his lack of alertness and watchfullness. He was responsible for that truck and he knew all of its defects. He failed to be a responsible driver. If he would have been this "accident" wouldn't have happened. Everyone is focused on the fact that Tony was blind however this "accident" could have happened to a 10 year old boy or girl or even a person walking down the street. Anyone. Clement failed to look before backing up and he didn't do so until he was looking for traffic, he was not looking for a pedistrian. If he would have been more watchful this might not have happened. I hope that the person who yelled at Clement to stop would come forward to let us know what happened or to tell us what she saw. Phoenix Disposal is also to blame, can someone explain to me why now after the "accident", the killing of someone, that they now have two drivers on their runs. I don't feel sorry for Clement Davis, I actually hope he sees what he did everyday, Tony lying under the wheels of the truck, he did that, Clement Killed someone. He does deserve that much. What is 90 days in jail and a suspended license? Nothing compared to what Tony lost. His life. His family 2 children, a mother, 2 sisters, a grandmother, 2 nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends will also have to live with the lack of watchfullness Clement used, they will not have Tony in their lives anymore. And that is Clement's fault. Whoever thinks that Tony's family should have locked him up because he was blind should have their head examined, even in today's local section of the vindicator there is an 11 year old blind boy that is excelling and trying to be independant and live a normal life. Should we lock him up too?

You know what pissed01 you are an idiot. Okay ytou want to blame some one then why dont you find out the amount of morphine Tony had running through his system at the time of the accident why dont you find out why a witness saw him walking down the street never using his cane but instead flalling about in the air and further more why dont you find out why another witness saw him stop behind the truck there way no carelessness on the part of the driver and who in the hell are you to say the beeper was cut on purpose besides the fact THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED BY D.O.T, remember that you want facts look in to the drivers record the man has been driving truck for 22 years and has nothing on his record to speak of have you ever driven a truck probably not oh and by the way the truck does not have a camera on it if you are going to spuew crap out of your math get the facts first and no one actually said to lock him up what was said if you want it correctly is he should have been watched after better no one expects to have him locked up but maybe a different route on a less busy street would have been safer or maybe for say a road that had a side walk and yeild for the blind is a law that is correct but when you are backing you do not (and i dont care who you are) always catch every thing behind you the driver sat for three to four mintues waiting for traffic to clear so has is that in any way careless or as you put it not being watchful if you are going to run your mouth about something know the facts before hand so you dont look stupid

you know come to think of it he could partly see out of his right eye correct? well why did he not see the truck(almost as big as a barn) on his right. Oh he did because he had to walk behind the truck to get into the street where the ACCIDENT accord

Am I missing part of the story? If the individual was blind, was he also deaf? Trucks are pretty loud, so how could he not hear the truck. And if he did have partial site out of one eye (and yes, none of us know to what extent the 'partial site' was) he should have seen some sort of blur, or movement and heard the truck! Or was this man also deaf? I feel for the family of the man who passed, but we need to look at the bigger picture of all circumstances. I suppose we will have to wait and see what the courts will say (and what new laws will be imposed to protect ourselves from ourselves....)

I do know the facts audiobyme, maybe you should find out all of the facts yourself, morphine where did you get that from? you have no idea what you are talking about. you need to get a copy of the police report and read the whole thing through and through. I don't think Clement Davis is even sorry for what he did or his family. They didn't even send their condolences to the family. I am not a member of the family but I am very close to them. The reason the witness saw him flailing the cane was because he was hit by the truck (it says in the police report that it looked like he was trying to grab on the bakc of the truck to stop himself from falling. Facts are facts Clement was not careful. And He KILLED someone. I still hope that Clement sees what he did everyday of his life HE KILLED someone and should see the image of Tony under the truck because Clement was the ultimate cause of Tony's death. He did that no one else. Clement deserves to suffer mentally every day for what he did. HE KILLED SOMEONE!!!!!!!!!

Clement should be held accountable for the laws that he broke he is not getting charged with a felony or murder. He is getting charged misdemeanors that is all and that is nothing. What he most likely will get is a slap on the hand for what he did, that is why he should suffer mentally, the image of Tony lying under the truck wheel of the truck Clement was responsible for.

Audiobyme do you feel sorry for the family that lost Tony? Tony's mother even was reported rubbing the back of Clement telling him that it was okay. Tony's family knows that Clement Davis did not say oh today I think I am going to hit a blind person. however that what the justice system to work and for Clement to be held responsible for the laws that he did break accident or not he still broke the law. and can you tell me where was Clement Davis and his family telling the family that lost Tony that they truly are sorry for what happened. To this day that has not happened.

Shows how much you know pissed01 if you were that close to the family you would know that Clement was crying at the scene and constantly telling the mother how sorry he was. The reason why he or his family can not say any thing now to the family about what happened and how they feel is because of any situation where the courts are involved they are not allowed to talk to the family or talk to other people about the case. Come on think about it when you are being told by the courts and your lawyer not to speak or contact the family in any way till this is over would you going to go out of your way if you where in his shoes. I do not think so. But let me guess you would but until any of us are in those shoes we could not answer that question and you completely contradict yourself with what you are writing you say you do not think he felt sorry for what happened but then you write Tony's mother was rubbing the back of Clement telling him it was okay that kind of tells you how he felt and as far as the witness you did not read what I wrote because if you did I said he was doing that while he was walking up the road not when he was behind the truck. and yes I feel VERY VERY SORRY for the family If I could replace Tony with myself for his family and ESPECIALLY his children I would with out even think twice about it but that is not possible. My heart bleeds for the children and the rest of his family that have to deal with this lose And if you do not think Clement felt sorry for what he did then why was he crying to Tony's mother The man cried the entire time he was there at the scene and every day since how many grown 60 year old men do you know that would be cry in the middle of a crown of people and as far as the laws broken there were none there was no murder and there was no felony

Beside the fact WHO are you to say how he or his family feel about this you do not know them and do not know what they are going thru right now so for you to put works in their moths you make your self out to look like a insensitive jerk

C'mon Pissed01, for you to say "I don't think Clement Davis is even sorry for what he did or his family" is saying he and his family are evil and inhuman. Do you think he and his family are evil and/or inhuman? Do you know them? He did apologize to Anthony Latosky's mother. He and his family are understandably devastated and will be for the rest of their lives. Your hope that he visualizes this and suffers forever is already in the cards, so don't fret, there is no need to expend your energy hoping for something like that. And he IS being held accountable, accountable to the Latosky family, his own family, his peers, and (for those who believe in a higher power) to God.

Zx6grl, I don't know if Anthony Latosky was deaf, that hasn't been mentioned so far. Audiobyme, you said, "the amount of morphine Tony had running through his system." Was he taking drugs for a medical condition? How do you know this information?

Where do you get the morphine Tony was on? For your information there was no morphine. I am not putting words in their mouths. And you have no idea what that family is currently going thru. No idea. They not only had to bury Tony in the last 7 months but Tony's father and grandfather. There was nothing in the police report about Tony Flailing his cane when walking down the street "on the grass" not in the street.

Yeah know come to think of it you are an idiot and do not have the correct information piss01 tony was NEVER under the wheels of the truck and he walked in the street to go behind the truck because the truck was at the edge of the drive