BOSTON (WHDH) - A Green Line operator charged with gross negligence in connection with a July 2021 crash that sent 27 people to the hospital is on trial starting Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Owen Turner, 50, was speeding, going three times the legal limit when he plowed into the back of another trolley on Comm Ave in Boston. They say he did not apply the brakes.
Turner pleaded not guilty and was fired by the MBTA.
During his time with the MBTA, officials say Turner was suspended six times, and the year before the crash, he was cited three times for speeding.
In a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), federal investigators determined that the operator’s “loss of situational awareness” was the likely cause of the collision.
Investigators say Turner told them everything went black and he thinks he fell asleep.
The trial is set to begin around noon.
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