In Louisville, Kentucky one of what may be several lawsuits has been filed against the company whose chartered bus crashed into an I-64 barrier while carrying dozens of Jefferson County Public School students on a field trip. In the suit, Commonwealth Bus Services is accused of not maintaining the bus properly.
The group was headed back from a visit to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond as part of a program that gives students a chance to visit college campuses. The crash occurred near the Jefferson-Shelby county line.
Attorney William McMurry filed the complaint in Jefferson Circuit Court on behalf of three victims. Included in the lawsuit is a Tennessee teenager who was on the bus because she was visiting friends in the Louisville area.
Angel Hahn of Martin of Tennessee sustained a broken back and fractures across her body. Her mother, Cynthia Runions, is one of the plaintiffs, as well as Suzanne Strong, an adult chaperone, and Strong’s daughter, Kristin Fraley. The lawsuit alleges the victims suffered “serious bodily injuries” caused by negligence. One of the parents bringing the suit was aboard the bus when it crashed. The parent suffered serious injuries as a result of the crash.
The suit was filed barely a week after the high-profile crash, when the bus loaded with high school students careened left across three lanes of traffic on Interstate 64 and hit a concrete median. Thirty high school students from Louisville, along with four adults aboard the bus were taken to hospitals.
Officials who investigated the accident believe that a front left tire gave out and deflated on the interstate, which caused the driver to veer into the emergency lane.
Commonwealth’s fleet of vehicles had not been involved in any crashes resulting in fatalities or injuries for at least two years before the Kentucky wreck, according to federal safety records.
McMurry has requested an order to preserve the bus and hire experts to inspect it. “They’re not designed to go out of control every time a tire blows. We want a team to go in there and examine the vehicle without anyone tainting the integrity of the vehicle. “There were strong indications of a suspension problem the day before in which my clients witnessed,” McMurry told local media.
The suit seeks a jury trial. McMurry said he anticipates filing more lawsuits stemming from the crash.