Bus Accidents

On June 16, 2013 a section of the westbound lane in Ionia County, Michigan was shut down for over six hours after an accident occurred between two semi-trucks and a Greyhound bus.

The Monday accident happened close to eleven a.m. where the highway connects to M-66 between the exit and entrance ramps to the highway.

A preliminary investigation by Michigan State Police shows that traffic had come to a standstill due to congestion caused by an earlier accident.

According to police, a semi truck that was stopped was struck by another semi truck, which then collided with a Greyhound bus. Anetta Clark, a passenger on the Greyhound bus, was headed to a funeral. She told media, “I was just sitting in the back and all of a sudden my head went into the window and heard a big boom. I’m grateful to be alive. I really am.”

A 42-year-old man from Chicago was driving one of the two semi trucks involved in the accident. He was life-flighted to a local hospital with life threatening injuries. Doctors say he is in stable condition at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in downtown Grand Rapids.

Twenty passengers aboard the Greyhound bus complained of minor injuries and were treated on the scene. The second semi-truck driver was also treated on the scene for minor injuries.

The officer placed in charge of the accident investigation told media the cause of the wreck appears to be “drivers paying too little attention for not only the big crash, but also minor mishaps up the road that caused the traffic jam. There is road construction in the area too, which also may have been a factor.”

Virgil Nells, a passenger on the Greyhound bus, who is a professional driver credited the bus driver’s care with preventing the vehicles stopped ahead of them from becoming part of the accident. He told media, “I was looking ahead and noticed that there was a traffic jam, and he applied his brakes and started slowing down, and gave himself a nice bit of distance between himself and the stopped traffic jam, and then that’s when the truck hit.”

Passengers on the Greyhound bus had to wait over two hours for transportation to reach them. They waited in the shelter of the luggage compartment to stay out of the hot sun.

Traffic was re-routed off the expressway at the Muir exit for almost five hours.

Scott Feenstra, a motorist at the scene, called in to the 1340 WJRW newsroom during the 2:30 news. He said that he had been stuck in the traffic for well over two hours.

Around 4 p.m., motorists were detoured to the exit ramp at M-66 to go up and over the bridge to bypass the accident and get back onto the expressway.

Westbound I-96 was not clear until around 6:30 p.m. Another accident was reported about ten minutes later near the Portland exit in Ionia County.

On July 3, 2013, nine people were injured after a chain reaction crash between two buses and a tractor-trailer took place on Southbound Interstate 95. The accident backed up traffic for well over twenty miles.

State police records state, “the accident took place shortly before 10 a.m., when an unknown vehicle cut off the tractor-trailer in the center lane. Both the driver of the truck, owned by New Jersey-based C&J Appliances and the driver of a Dartmouth Coach bus slowed suddenly. The driver of the second bus, owned by Autocar Preference Limited in Quebec, tried to stop, but couldn’t brake in time and hit the Dartmouth Coach from behind. The impact slammed the Coach bus into the tractor trailer.”

A driver in a vehicle following the bus also could not stop their vehicle in time, and they crashed into the back of the bus

Over the past few years, charter bus companies have come under great scrutiny. The closer look at the industry came as a result of a 2011 crash involving fifteen passengers traveling from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville to Chinatown in New York City. The accident happened at the exit sign on I-95 in the Bronx.

Nancy Laren, a passenger on the bus told media, “I was looking out the window and I felt the bus put on the brakes and he kept strengthening on the brakes. I remember hitting my head.”

The accident backed up for miles and caused major issues for surrounding roadways.

The drivers of the bus, car, and tractor-trailer were taken to the hospital with complaints of pain. Three passengers in the car and three passengers on the bus were also taken to local hospitals. The injured included three adults and two teenagers, who were taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center where they were listed in stable condition.

Fifty-six passengers a board the bus refused medical attention.

The driver of the Quebec bus and the driver of the Dodge were both issued citations for following too closely.

Laren was on the bus headed to visit family that lived on Long Island for the holiday weekend. She did not get a long weekend with her family because Bridgeport Hospital kept her for observation.

Once released Laren decided to go home,  “I just want to go home. I’m in too much pain. I just want to go home.”

Ken Hunter, Operations director for Dartmouth Coach, Ken Hunter said in a statement that, “Twenty-three people were on board his company’s bus, and that Laren and the two other passengers who went to the hospital did so as “a precautionary measure. None appear to have been seriously injured and we expect that they’ll be released shortly if they haven’t been yet.”

This was a daily run from New Hampshire to New York for the bus.

Emergency crews and firefighters from several towns were at the scene within minutes of the crash. A hazardous materials team was dispatched to the crash site from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

A head on collision between two buses in the Ukraine resulted in the death of both bus drivers and six others, according to a statement given to the media by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry press office. Details about the crash and injuries were slow coming and confusing at first. First reports stated only the bus driver of the Bulgarian bus had been killed, but quickly the death toll rose to four killed on the scene, and then four passengers died after being transported to the hospital.

The deadly crash happened just before 8 a.m. on Thursday, July 11, 2013 not far from the town of Kovel in the Volinska region. The driver of one of the buses was killed in the crash. A Bulgarian and a Ukrainian bus were involved in the accident. The Ukrainian bus served the route where the crash happened regularly. The bus driver of the Ukrainian bus was rushed to the hospital where he later died.

The death toll of the accident was initially just two, but overnight grew to eight as the seriously injured died after being admitted to the hospital. Among the dead was a Bulgarian national, according to the Bulgaria Foreign Ministry.

In initial statements, the Bulgarian ministry had reported to media that the one of the drivers of the bus, had been killed, but that statement was amended and the second bus driver was reported as critical in a local hospital. He soon after died from his injuries.

One of the buses involved had Bulgarian license plates and it carried 50 Belarusian tourists, including ten children.

Bulgarian media reported that the Bulgarian bus carried Belarusian tourists traveling to Bulgaria. The second bus carried a group traveling from the town of Lutsk. They were on a trip to the Shatsk lakes, which are located near the border with Poland and Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry said, “We are co-operating with local authorities and will release more information as it becomes available.”

The Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, and the Russian RIA Novosti reported, “Another 22 people have been injured, some gravely.”

The Bulgarian bus was owned by the Haskovo-based transport company, Magi Tour. One of the victims was a small child. The bus was transporting fifty people from Belarus to a camp located in the Bulgarian summer report called the “Sunny Beach.”

On the bus was forty children who were sixteen years or under, eight adults, and the two drivers. The total number of injured was twenty-seven.

“There were two Bulgarian buses, eight people died, including two Bulgarian drivers,” the embassy said. “The two drivers were carrying 50 Belarusian citizens, including 40 children,” the diplomatic agency added.

The Bulgarian Embassy has kept in constant contact with Ukrainian authorities and is providing any assistance that is needed. The Bulgarian Ambassador traveled to the crash site. A group from Magi Tour also headed to the Ukraine.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry expressed their deepest sympathies to the families of the victims through local and national media outlets.

Ukrainian authorities state that they are now working to establish the nationalities of the victims and surviving passengers on both buses.

In Wales, a father of two got whiplash along with injuries to his lower back in a road collision between two buses earlier this week. The victim was a man named Paulo Bicho, who claimed he flew off of the back seat and down to the floor as the First Cymru vehicle collided with a bus moving in the opposite direction.

When the collision between the two buses occurred, the vehicles struck sideways on and both of the buses rained broken window glass over the passengers who were sitting in the bus, claimed Mr. Bicho.

The impact had occurred between the number sixty-three bus and the First Cymru. It happened on the road to Cefn Cribwr, close to Bridgend. It was approximately 5.30 p.m. Mr. Bicho described the accident as “very scary” and “like an explosion.”

The bus company commented on the incident and said it was “deeply regrettable” and that the situation was being “taken incredibly seriously.”

The 26 year old Mr. Bicho was once a professional footballer with his origins in Portugal. He now lives with his five year old son Presley and three year old Lorenzo and his fiancée in Kenfig Hill. He told the press that “I have whiplash and have hurt the muscles in my back.”

The injuries were so severe that the waiter in the Poco Poco Restaurant could not complete his duties after the crash. He then thought it necessary to check into the Princess of Wales hospital for medical treatment.
He told the press that others had suffered minor injuries and that they were being treated.

Besides a police car checking the situation while driving by, no contact was made with the emergency services.

Some passengers traveling to Porthcawl claimed that they had suffered no injuries. They were then transferred to other transport.

A comment was made on behalf of First Cymru, which stated, “We can confirm that there was an incident involving two of our service 63 buses earlier this week, whereby the buses came together on a narrow piece of road. This incident is deeply regrettable and resulted in some of the bus windows being damaged. The drivers of both vehicles are being spoken to as part of the investigation into what happened.

“We would like to apologize for any distress caused as a result of this matter and would like to take this opportunity to reassure customers that the matter is being taken incredibly seriously.”

On Friday June 28, 2013, a  federal judge tossed out a suit filed against a Portland transit agency and its bus driver, who struck five pedestrians, killing two of them.

The deadly bus accident took place back in April of 2010. The federal suit claimed that the accident  violated the victims’ constitutional rights. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman rejected that claim. Judge Mosman dismissed the case with prejudice, which means it can not be re-filed.

The bus was driven by Sandi Day. According to witnesses, Day made an illegal left turn and the 16-ton bus hit five people who were crossing the street.

Danielle Sale, 22, of Vancouver and Jeneé Hammel, 26, of Gresham, both died under the bus. Hammel’s brother, his wife, and Sale’s boyfriend were all  injured in the accident.

TriMet, the owners of the bus, fired Day after an investigation. Day was found guilty of six traffic charges, including four counts of careless driving back in 2011.

Day was sentenced by the presiding judge to pay more than $1,000 in fines, do 200 hours of community service, and complete a traffic safety course.

The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of Sale, accused TriMet and Day of an “arbitrary governmental taking” of the woman’s life.

The dismissed suit alleged, “Day’s negligence behind the wheel amounted to a government employee interfering with fundamental rights implicit in the concept of an ordered liberty.”

The victims had just left a comedy club. They had the right of way in a crosswalk when Day made a courtesy stop to allow a late-night rider to get off. This stop was not an official bus stop. At this point, Day  illegally crossed a lane and turned left from Northwest Glisan Street onto Broadway.

The suit alleged, “Day chose to speed through the intersection without braking until she hit the pedestrians.”

This will not be this accident’s last day in court, as other suits are pending

David Sale, the father of Danielle Sale, and Vicki Flynn, the mother of Jeneé Hammel have all filed lawsuits against the transit agency. Those cases are still pending.

After the deadly accident, TriMet did an extensive safety review, but the lawsuits claim TiMet, “had a policy and practice of encouraging drivers to accelerate unsafely and make illegal turns.”

The complaint also accused TriMet of knowing of the hazardous blind spots for short drivers and about the unsafe courtesy stops.

TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt told local media that, “Amalgamated Transit Union is challenging Day’s termination and the matter is awaiting arbitration.” Day was hired back in October 2007.

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.

In China, a bus that was carrying 36 people veered off of the road in heavy fog and crashed into a valley in western China. The crash killed fifteen people.

The accident occurred on Tuesday June 18, 2013. That afternoon, the bus was traveling to a tourist spot near Changji city in the Xinjiang region when the accident happened. The accident occurred around 5:10 p.m. The bus was returning from a tourist spot near the Changji in the Changji Hui autonomous prefecture. The bus fell into a valley near Miaoergou Township, Rehmanjon Dawut, deputy governor of the prefecture, said during a news conference on Wednesday.

The 15 people killed in the accident ranged in age from 18 to 49. The bus was one of 10 rented by a local shopping mall to take more than 360 of its employees on a tour. Twenty passengers in the bus suffered injuries and are still being treated. Four are in critical but stable condition. The male bus driver survived the crash and is being treated at a local hospital.

The tour bus carrying 35 female passengers plunged into a valley on Tuesday, falling more than 40 meters. Poor road conditions and bad driving conditions make accidents in China quite common.

In a deadlier bus accident in central Peru, a bus veered off of a highway and fell into a river. The accident has left at least 30 dead and 9 are still missing.

According to Highway Police Chief Col. Rodorico Cubas, the bus was believed to be carrying 54 passengers when it went off the road on a curve and fell into the Tarma River in Junin province.

Emergency crews recovered 30 bodies and rescued 14 or 15 injured survivors. Nine people are still unaccounted for. Rescue efforts continue. Officials fear that there could be more bodies in the wreckage.

“We’re still waiting to recover nine bodies or injured people,” Cubas said, adding that the injured had been transported to hospitals in communities closest to the accident site.

The police chief also stated that the bus went off the roadway for unknown reasons before entering a tunnel and ended up plunging into the Tarma River, some 229 miles from Lima.

Witnesses told investigators that the bus went down a 50-meter (163-foot) slope into the river and that the weather conditions at the scene were making it difficult for emergency crews to attend to the injured and recover the bodies.

On Wednesday, news channels showed images of a destroyed bus lying in the river.

As in China, accidents on Peru’s highways are a common thing because of poor driving, poor state of roads, and the informality of the transportation sector in those countries.

A car, which lost control off of a California highway, was hit by a bus, resulting in the death of woman and leaving her husband critically injured, police sources say. The accident occurred at 2 a.m. on Highway 101 near Burlingame. The bus driver and the 8 passengers in the bus survived, but were left with injuries.

The California Highway Patrol confirmed that the unidentified woman who passed away was accompanying her husband, Raul Padilla of Oakland. The woman was the passenger while her husband Raul was the one driving the car. It is still unclear why the car lost control on the highway leading to the accident. Raul’s car, which was headed South when it lost control, finally stopped at the two lanes that were facing the north. The bus, which was also going South, hit the front part of the car. Also involved in the accident were two other cars, whose drivers couldn’t avoid the crash.

It is believed that the couple had been drinking, but it’s still unclear whether drunk driving led to the accident. The 36-year-old woman succumbed to the accident while her husband narrowly escaped death. With the husband still in critical condition, it’s quite early to conclude whether he will survive. The police said they could not conclude that drunk driving was the prime cause of the accident. However, they acknowledged that it would not be left out as a possible cause of the accident. With Raul’s condition still unknown, the number of survivors from the crash is 10. The other survivors included 8 passengers, with the ninth being the bus driver.

The police are now banking on the health of the driver of the car, Raul, to establish a concrete cause for the accident. It is still unclear what the name of the woman who perished, believed to be Raul’s wife, was. The other persons who sustained injuries were also treated, but none of them sustained any life-threatening injury. The accident occurred deep into the night, and it is possible that Raul and his wife had been drinking all night. The police refuse to draw an immediate conclusion, as they believe that anything could have been the cause of the accident. The bus driver tried to avoid Raul’s car, but the bus still hit the front of the car because the bus driver was not able to stop the bus in time.

Both drivers who were involved in a shuttle bus and tractor trailer crash near the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia face legal charges stemming from the accident, in which more than a dozen people were injured.

Mario Cochran, the driver of the tractor-trailer, is now facing three counts of serious injury by motor vehicle and is also being charged with an improper left turn. Yolanda Boles, the shuttle bus driver, is also facing three counts of serious injury by motor vehicle, operating a commercial vehicle without a commercial license, and operating a unsafe vehicle.

According to the recently released police report, Yolanda Boles should not have been driving the bus. The report states that she did not have the proper commercial driver’s license to drive a large vehicle like a bus. Her employer, MTI, recently released the following statement, “On that day, Ms. Yolanda Boles mistakenly took command of a larger vehicle than one for which she was rated.”

The report on the incident states that the bus contained no brake fluid and that the metal wires in the tires were showing through the rubber. According to a press release by MTI, Boles was instructed to, “check the brake fluid level, and if she found it to be low, to replace the fluid.” All MTI drivers understand that if vehicle operation or safety is ever in question, they are to immediately take the vehicle out of operation and follow maintenance protocols.

Yolanda Boles had not been previously cited for any similar violations by MTI. The only citation on record for her was for tardiness.

Authorities state that they have also cited MTI for allowing an unlicensed person to drive. According to local authorities, MTI may face more charges in the future. Lawsuits from victims may also be on the horizon.

According to College Park police, sixteen people on the shuttle bus were injured when it crashed on the road that loops around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The bus skidded 158 feet before the impact.

Seven of the victims have been released from Grady Memorial Hospital. Hospital authorities stated that two people were treated for serious injuries; one suffered a collapsed lung, and the other fractured both shoulders.

MTI says that it is making changes to company policy because of the incident. A spokesperson told media that they will now require all drivers to have their CDL license.

Bus accidents are one of the most traumatic events that can happen on the road and can result in multiple deaths and injuries, not to mention millions of dollars worth of damage to property. A bus crash attorney can help assert the rights of the victims and assist them in getting due compensation. Bus companies can also guarantee that they are following the legal guidelines to release payouts. The idea behind hiring a bus accident lawyer should be to protect and benefit both parties.

One recent incident involves a bus in Myanmar going from Yangon to Mandalay. The bus accident stemmed from a blown tire, leading the vehicle to skid and go off of a bridge and sink into a stream. According to media reports, there were 27 people in the bus; 11 were killed and 16 were injured, including an American citizen. The road is known to be accident prone, due mostly to reckless driving and speeding, particularly on the sharp curves.

Another bus accident occurred on May 26, 2013 in Mexico. Similar to the Myanmar incident, the bus had a blown tire, causing it to lose control and turn over. The bus flipped after hitting a guardrail. 16 people were killed as a result. The bus was traveling from Santa Maria Amajac to Mexico City carrying a group of tourists. Inspectors further observed that the bus was already very old and was operating in poor condition.

Incidents like these should spur companies and victims to seek the aid of a bus crash attorney to provide the necessary details and tips on claiming due compensation. One of the procedures involved includes inspecting the condition and quality of the vehicle before the trip. An attorney can show if the company was negligent in caring for and maintaining the vehicles. Being in the business of transportation, bus companies have a special responsibility toward passengers. When human lives are at stake, it is important to practice extraordinary diligence to guarantee the safety of all.

Even individuals not on the bus can become victims of road accidents. On May 27, 2013 in Corio, an 11-year-old boy on a bike was hit and killed. Apparently, the bus driver turned on a green light. Witnesses heard the brakes screech then saw the boy go under the large vehicle. In instances like these, a bus accident lawyer can enforce the rights of the victim’s family by showing road violations that resulted in the accident.