{"id":24188,"date":"2025-10-01T12:27:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T12:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=841220"},"modified":"2025-10-01T12:27:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T12:27:17","slug":"india-native-truck-driver-in-fatal-florida-crash-pleads-not-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/india-native-truck-driver-in-fatal-florida-crash-pleads-not-guilty\/","title":{"rendered":"India Native Truck Driver in Fatal Florida Crash Pleads Not Guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/img\/social\/opengraph\/ij-social-default-1200x630.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southeast\/2025\/10\/01\/841220.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/southeast\/2025\/10\/01\/841220.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">0 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/harjinder-singh-florida-truck-crash-immigration-bond-9c09c13e419ac6176fad22136ad6bf68\">commercial truck driver<\/a> accused of making an illegal U-turn that killed three people on a Florida highway last month waived his first appearance hearing Monday and entered a not guilty plea, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old native of India, is being held in the St. Lucie County Jail in Florida after being denied bond on three counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations. Singh lived in California and was originally issued a commercial driver\u2019s license in Washington before California issued him one.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-topics=\"auto,personal-auto\" data-revive-companies data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>Fallout from the crash led to a war of words between the Trump administration and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and new, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/florida-california-trucking-drivers-license-duffy-restrictions-ae66d30dbf7be7ae71ab0ca4e366ac5b\">stricter rules for non-citizens<\/a> to obtain commercial drivers licenses. That policy was announced Friday by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.<\/p>\n<p>The Florida Highway Patrol said Singh attempted to make a U-turn Aug. 12 from the northbound lanes of Florida\u2019s Turnpike near Fort Pierce. A minivan that was behind Singh\u2019s big rig couldn\u2019t stop and crashed into the truck, killing its driver and two passengers. Singh and a passenger in the truck were not injured.<\/p>\n<p>In a news conference last week, Duffy said an audit conducted after the Florida crash showed the previous rules weren\u2019t strict enough and that a number of states weren\u2019t following them consistently.<\/p>\n<p>He said Singh should have never received a commercial license because of his immigration status.<\/p>\n<p>That review found that commercial driver\u2019s licenses were improperly issued in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington. But Duffy said the problems were so egregious in California, where Singh\u2019s license was issued, that he is threatening to pull $160 million in federal funding.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Singh\u2019s attorney, Natalie Knight-Tai, nor prosecutor David Dodd responded to emails seeking comment on the case. Next up for Singh is a pre-trial docket call on Friday in Fort Pierce.<\/p>\n<div class=\"copyright-notice lite\">Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/div>\n<p class=\"tagtag\"> <span class=\"tagtag\">Topics<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/florida\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Florida<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/auto\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Auto<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/personal-auto\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Personal Auto<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/india\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">India<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"841220\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! 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