Tracy Morgan collision: Truck driver charged, other updates

Early this morning, some of the first news came out about a shocking collision on the New Jersey Turnpike that ended up hospitalizing Tracy Morgan and others, and ended up taking the life of James McNair, a comedian and writer who works with the “30 Rock” star.

At the time of this article, there are no further updates when it comes to Morgan’s condition, but we will continue to monitor that as time goes on. Last we heard, he was unlikely to improve over the course of the day, and that his family was spending time with him in the hospital.

What we can report now is that according to TMZ, the man responsible for driving the Walmart tractor-trailer that reportedly caused the accident is being charged. 35-year old Kevin Roper has been hit with one count of death by auto and also four counts of assault by auto. There are no indications that alcohol or drug use were involved in the crash at all, and many details surrounding what happened to the limo bus that Morgan and his team were are still coming out.

For the time being, Walmart has issued a statement through their CEO Bill Simon saying that they will pay the medical costs of the victims of the crash if it is revealed that their driver was at fault:

“We can’t change what happened, but we will do what’s right for the family of the victim and the survivors in the days and weeks ahead.”

They, like so many others right now, are working with investigators first to figure out what happened. Many of Tracy’s good friends and colleagues have already wished him well and expressed their thoughts and hopes that he will recover.

Stay tuned, since we will have more on the story as it comes out. Of course, thoughts continue to be with him and everyone involved in the crash.

Photo: NBC