An Arizona truck driver has been sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to killing five people while driving distracted on his phone.
Danny G. Tiner, 38, caused a six-vehicle collision while driving a commercial truck on Interstate 10, just outside Phoenix, on Jan. 12, 2023. A months-long investigation found that Tiner was not only speeding at the time of the crash, but also “actively using the TikTok application on his cell phone,” according to a press release from the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Five people died at the scene of the crash. On Friday, Tiner was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for each casualty, according to a sentencing document. He was credited with 415 days for time already served.
Data from a GPS on Tiner’s truck showed that he was driving 68 miles per hour (nearly 110 kilometres per hour) in a 55-mph construction zone (about 88 km/h) when he crashed, according to a press release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. He failed to stop when traffic came to a halt in front of him and plowed into a vehicle, setting off a chain of collisions behind him.
Some of the vehicles, including two semi-trucks that were driving behind Tiner, caught on fire.
“Digital forensic data showed Tiner accessed at least four separate TikTok videos while driving and within seconds of the collision,” prosecutors found.
Tiner was arrested at his home on June 29, 2023, and charged with five counts of manslaughter, four counts of endangerment and one count of tampering with evidence. During court proceedings in June of this year, Tiner pleaded guilty to five counts of negligent homicide.
This is the first time that an Arizona driver has been convicted of causing a fatal crash while distracted on social media, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
“This tragedy was entirely preventable. Don’t risk lives — put your phone away and give driving your full attention,” public safety official Sgt. Smith said.
“As a driver, you have an obligation to pay attention to the road. To choose to access social media while driving, placing the lives of others on the line, is reckless,” Maricopa County attorney Rachel Mitchell said.
“Five families are living through the pain of losing a loved one. While the justice system can never relieve that pain, it can hold the person responsible accountable. We achieved that goal.”
The FBI assisted in the investigation.