BY STACI WILSON

Homicide by vehicle charges lodged against a truck driver police say failed to take appropriate action to avoid a deadly crash that claimed the life of US Marine Staff Sgt. Andrew Stevens will move forward to trial following a Monday, Sept. 28 preliminary hearing in Montrose District Court.

Arlan Taft, 58, of Tioga, appeared in front of Magisterial District Judge Jeffrey Hollister with his attorney, Ernie Preate, and entered a plea of “not guilty.”

Taft was the driver of a water truck that collided with Stevens’ Dodge Durango Jan. 2 at the intersection of Routes 3004 and 29 in Springville Twp.
On the stand Monday, Cpl. Michael Joyce, a member of the PSP Collision Analysis and Reconstruction unit, described the scene of the crash.

He described the road leading to the intersection as a steep eight percent downhill grade towards the stop at Rt. 29. The speed limit in the area is posted at 40 mph, he said.

Cpl. Joyce said a witness to the accident didn’t see brake lights on Taft’s truck prior to the crash.

Police interviewed Taft following the crash. In his statement, the driver said he downshifted when he headed down the hill; then went to downshift again, missed the gear and began “freewheeling,” reducing his ability to brake.

After the impact, both the water truck and the Durango caught fire.

Cpl. Joyce said the data had been recovered from Stevens’ Durango air bag module. The data, recovered by Chrysler, showed Stevens was stopped about three and one-half seconds prior to the crash; His vehicle then accelerated from 0 to 31 mph into the truck ahead of him, Cpl. Joyce told the court.
The GPS tracking company was able to determine the Taft was traveling at about 32 mph prior to the crash.

Cpl. Joyce also said there was no evidence of skid marks on before the accident scene; and an inspection of the vehicle showed no indication of warping due to a heavy brake application.

“In the proper gear, he should have had enough time to stop,” Cpl. Joyce told the court.

Following the crash, Springville Twp. requested a traffic safety study be conducted on the roadway, according to testimony in court.

Since then, a speed advisory has been posted in the area reducing the speed of trucks on the downhill grade to 20 mph.

Preate questioned Cpl. Joyce regarding the signage in the area at the time of the crash.

Staff Sgt. Stevens died from multiple traumatic injuries, state police said.

In addition to the homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter charges, Taft also faces reckless endangerment charges and various vehicle code violations.

Taft remains free on $10,000 unsecured bail.