We often discuss how dangerous and destructive trucking accidents can be, and an accident involving a tractor-trailer and a famous actor-comedian tragically proves that point.

Early Saturday, former “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan was traveling with a group of people in a limo bus on the way home from a comedy show when they were hit by a Walmart tractor-trailer that failed to stop for slowed traffic.

The impact caused the limo bus to flip and slam into several other vehicles, pulverizing it in the process. A 62-year-old veteran comedian on the limo bus was killed in the accident and Morgan and several others sustained serious injuries.

Morgan has been in critical condition since the crash, though his spokespeople have said that his condition seems to be improving.

Following the accident, it was reported that the driver of the Walmart semi-truck had not slept in more than 25 hours. Although federal officials have implemented strict regulations governing the amount of rest time truckers are required to get, driver fatigue remains a factor in many fatal trucking accidents.

Truckers are often pressured to drive faster, take shorter breaks and cover more ground than is safe. As a result, truckers often drift off behind the wheel and their humungous and powerful trucks turn into deadly weapons on our roads and highways.

Although police did not confirm if the Walmart trucker had fallen asleep behind the wheel and that’s the reason he failed to stop before slamming into the limo bus, it’s certainly a possibility.

The trucker was criminally charged for his role in the accident and he and his employer could potentially also face civil liability as well.

Source: CNN.com, “Police: Driver charged in Tracy Morgan crash was awake 24 hours,” Kevin Conlon and Doug Ganley, June 9, 2014