A tractor-trailer driver was flying 20 miles above the posted speed limit before his fatal wreck with a van carrying comic Tracy Morgan, investigators said Thursday.
A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report indicated trucker Kevin Roper - charged with vehicular homicide in the June 7 crash - was zipping along at 65 mph on the New Jersey Turnpike.
'30 Rock' star Morgan, 45, was critically injured and his pal James (Uncle Jimmy Mack) McNair, 63, was killed in the 1 a.m. pileup in Cranbury, N.J.
According to the NTSB, Roper was cruising at a high rate of speed despite two warning signs posted on the northbound Turnpike.
The first, just under a mile away from the accident scene, warned of a lane closure ahead while a second about a half-mile away advised the speed limit was lowered from 55 mph to 45 mph, the report said.
'A preliminary review of the data showed the (truck) was traveling at 65 mph for the 60 seconds preceding the collision,' the report said.
Morgan, McNair and three other passengers were traveling in the 2012 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter limo-van when the Peterbilt truck slammed into them from behind.
A spokesman for Morgan said earlier this week that the funnyman's health was steadily improving and his condition was upgraded to fair.
The former 'Saturday Night Live' player, who suffered a broken leg and other serious injuries, remained in a New Brunswick, N.J., hospital.
The NTSB also released a chilling picture of the Morgan van that shows the back of the vehicle torn completely off, its steel scarred and twisted, and all of its windows shattered.
Roper, of Jonesboro, Ga., is free on $50,000 bail. He was also charged with four counts of assault by auto - one for each of the injured survivors of the wreck.
A criminal complaint charged Roper had gone without sleep for 24 hours prior to the crash, and the NTSB found he had logged a 13-hour, 32-minute shift.
The maximum tour permitted for commercial truck drivers is 14 hours.
'Investigators are compiling and analyzing information to determine the activities of the ... (truck) driver and the amount of rest he received in the hours and days preceding the crash,' the one-page report said.
lmcshane@nydailynews.com
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