Although the Georgia State Patrol’s investigation of the deadly Interstate 75 pileup is still under way and may take months to complete, federal charges were announced March 21 against two tractor-trailer operators involved in the crash, authorities said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a regulatory agency responsible for vehicles conducting interstate commerce, has announced two truck drivers involved in the March 14 pileup that claimed five lives were charged with violations of federal safety regulations for trucks and buses, according to FMCSA southern field administrator Jerry Cooper.

“This kind of driving behavior will not be tolerated,” Cooper said. “There are too many highway fatalities in this country, and what we have done today ought to serve as a notice to all drivers of commercial motor vehicles.”

Carl D. Carter of Newburgh, Ind., was charged with a $5,000 fine for falsifying information in his driver logbook.

Carter concealed violating the federal regulation requiring commercial motor vehicle operators to spend no more than 10 hours driving before taking an eight-hour rest period, Cooper said. Carter was found to have driven more than 10 hours after his last rest period prior to the accident, Cooper said.

Robert Carl Branch of Anderson, S.C., was fined $1,000 for speeding and falsifying his driver logbook. Investigators estimated Branch’s average speed at almost 70 mph on the morning of the crash, Cooper said.

Cooper said although the two drivers were investigated because they were at the front of the pileup, the charges do not mean the two drivers caused the crash.

“Our agency’s investigation and actions against these drivers were part of a new program begun March 1 in the 13 southern states in my jurisdiction,” he said.

Under the Southern Fatal Accident Program, any driver found to be involved in a fatal accident will be investigated by the FMCSA, Cooper said.

“Our safety investigators will also investigate the driver’s company,” he said. “If the driver or company is found to have been in violation of federal safety regulations prior to the accident, the FMCSA will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

Cooper said the Southern Fatal Accident Program was begun in response to more than 2,000 fatalities involving a truck or bus each year in 13 southern states.

“There were five funerals as a result of this one accident,” Cooper said. “That is five families too many whose lives will be shattered forever.”

Cooper said the Southern Fatal Accident Program aims to pare down the high number of fatalities on southern highways in two ways.

“First, an investigation of a driver and company involved in a fatal accident will create a strong deterrent for those found to have been operating in an unsafe manner, resulting in increased compliance with federal safety regulations,” he said.

“Second - and equally important - all drivers and motor carriers in the South will be made aware that if they are involved in a fatal crash and are subsequently found to have violated federal safety regulations as these drivers were, they will be subject to disciplinary action,” he said