A Vermont technician was arrested on charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment after his failure to properly inspect a vehicle contributed to a woman's death, according to a report by WPTZ NewsChannel 5.
Steven Jalbert of Barre, Vt., inspected a 1992 Chevrolet Corsica, owned by Donald and Elizabeth Ibey, in May 2014. Elizabeth, 83, died in a car crash two months later. A death, investigators say, could have been avoided.
Jalbert, one of 5,900 technicians in the state licensed by the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, failed to test the brakes, remove a wheel, put the vehicle on a lift or test it on the road, according to WPTZ. AJ's Sunoco in Barre, where Jalbert is employed, was using an out-of-date manual.
"When you go in an you pay the fees to have your vehicle inspected, you're depending on that inspection mechanic to take the time to go through and examine that vehicle and tell you 'yes that vehicle is safe to drive'," Glen Button, director of enforcement at the DMV told WPTZ.
It is vital that technicians follow the most current model for annual safety inspections, Button says. "It really is critical. They're examining the suspension of the vehicle, the steering mechanism of the vehicle' they're looking at the exhaust. Any of those systems, if there is a problem, it could really be tragic," he said.
Read the full report from WPTZ here.
