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Recent Updates
July 23, 2008
Salmonella Food Poisoning Exposes FDA's Weak Record
July 22, 2008
Doctor Arrested for Los Angeles Sexual Assault
July 21, 2008
Nine Injured in Sonoma County Bus Accident
July 18, 2008
Home Care Elder Abuse Cases on the Rise
July 17, 2008
Los Angeles Comedian Arrested for Murrieta Sexual Battery
July 16, 2008
8 Dead as Vehicles Plunge into Canal After Central Valley Car Accident
July 15, 2008
Man Accused in Fatal Fresno Multi-Car Accident Surrenders
July 14, 2008
Anaheim Doctor Convicted of Sexual Assault of a Minor
July 11, 2008
Report Says Power Lines to Blame for San Diego Fire
July 10, 2008
Boat Operator to Face DUI Charges in Manteca, California Boating Accident
Archives
Bus Accidents
Nine Injured in Sonoma County Bus Accident
July 21, 2008
The bus accident happened on Highway 101. It was taking students from the Geyserville, Cloverdale, Ukiah and Calistoga areas to the Sonoma State University sponsored Upward Bound-North program from the Rohnert Park campus to stops near their high schools. Just before 4 pm, the bus swerved off the road, and the driver while attempting to steer the bus back on course, overcorrected. The result was that the bus turned over with a deafening crash then continued to slide along the median and into the southbound lane. Imagine a bus full of teenagers, trapped in a bus as the vehicle proceeds to slide at least 100 feet on its side. The students who were sitting on the passenger side of the bus fell down from the newly heightened position when the bus toppled over. A terrifying 100 feet later, the bus finally came to a stop. Brooks made use of the broken windshield to help students scramble out of the bus.
Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic from the southbound lane at the time of the bus accident; otherwise we would have probably seen more tragic consequences that we have seen here.
The California Highway Patrol lays down stringent requirements for drivers who wish to obtain a school bus driver’s license. They are required to complete at least 20 hours of classroom and driving lessons, and have fingerprinting and background checks done before they can even be considered for a school bus driver’s license. These licenses have to be renewed after five years, and drivers are required to take refresher courses every 10 years.
It certainly does seem as though the drivers really are filtered and screened before they can be allowed to get behind the wheel of a school bus, which makes it all the more surprising that a driver, and especially one as experienced and proficient as Brooks reportedly was, could have made such potentially tragic errors. Why did the bus swerve off into the opposite lane? Buses don’t just drift across on their own. Was there driver fatigue involved? It also seems strange that a highly trained and experienced driver overcorrected so badly, causing a massive machine to topple over like an empty tin can.
Although it’s still too early to say what the reasons for the bus accident may have been, we know human error can creep into even the most experienced hands.
The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of bus accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.
Bus Accident in Mojave Desert Kills Woman
May 19, 2008
For the passengers on the tour bus from Culver City to Laughlin, Nevada on Saturday, it was supposed to be a casino trip full of fun and games. At about 11 am on an empty stretch of road on Interstate 40 in the Mojave Desert, however, the bus fishtailed and flipped over on its side.
One woman has been reported killed in the bus accident, and at least 21 others have been hospitalized for treatment of their injuries. At least eight of those hospitalized are described as having severe injuries, while 14 have moderate injures. The woman who was killed has been identified as 31-year-old Faith Creer, who was ejected from her seat when the bus toppled over. She died at the scene of the bus accident.
The charter bus, according to the LA Times, was owned and operated by Royal American Tours and Charters, a Glendale based company. Survivors told horrific tales of the bus drifting off the road and into the dirt median before flipping over on its side, and then skidding more than 100 feet. Battered passengers climbed out of the overturned bus through the shattered windshield, and were helped by other drivers who stopped by to help. At least 6 rescue helicopters were called in to transport the injured to hospitals in Apple Valley, Colton, and Needles, California.
Survivors of the bus accident say the driver allowed the bus to drift about 40 feet into the dirt median. It was traveling at about 70 miles an hour at the time. They couldn't say why the driver allowed the bus to drift. When he tried to gain control of the bus again, it fishtailed and flipped over. It then skidded about a hundred feet before coming to a stop.
A massive bus overturning on its side is a nightmarish scenario for those trapped inside, but this doesn't seem to have been the first such bus accident for Royal American. The company had one of its buses involved in a similar accident in 2005, when a bus burst into flames while on its way to a casino in Indio. Although nobody was injured in that accident, we can probably assume that the company's fleet maintenance record may be worth looking into. Both accidents have been intense in nature.
Royal American claims that its drivers are all licensed, and each has a total of more than 10 years of experience to his credit. They are all perfectly equipped to drive charter buses and luxury coaches, their website say.
The coming days will give us more insights into what happened in those crucial moments before the bus accident. The driver, the LA Times says, does not know why his bus drifted. Such excuses are meaningless when people have been injured and one has been killed. The victims and their families deserve to know what happened on Saturday.
If you have been injured in a bus accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.
Lack of Safety Standards on US-Mexico Buses Raise Fear of More Bus Accidents
May 09, 2008
Mexican immigrants who cross the border to visit family on buses owned by smaller bus companies might be at risk of accidents, but federal agencies refuse to believe there is a potential problem.
These smaller bus companies offer many Mexican immigrants a cheaper way of getting home. In some cases, a one way ticket costs as little as $70, while the comparative fare on a Greyhound to the same destination would be in the region of $120. That cheap price comes at an even higher price tag though. A spate of recent bus accidents involving buses owned by these companies on their way to and from Mexico has helped turn focus on the safety factor, or the lack thereof.
As recently as January, a bus coming in from Monterrey, Mexico to Houston crashed near Victoria, killing at least one passenger and injuring many others. One passenger lost his arm as a result of the bus accident. The bus, in this case, veered off a highway. The driver was found to have dozed off while driving, and also had the wrong kind of commercial license.
A few weeks prior to the Monterrey - Houston bus accident, there was another crash that involved a bus and a pickup that killed four passengers, including the driver of the truck. In that bus accident, the cause of the crash was much clearer. The driver was on amphetamines at the time of the bus accident. There was also no relief driver to cover for him.
These types of accidents aren't exactly a new phenomenon. They have been occurring and causing injures as far back as 2002. In September of that year, an accident demonstrated how badly these companies and their buses are being run. The accident that occurred in Mississippi took place when the driver and the replacement driver tried to change seats while the bus was going at 70 mph. This kind of foolhardiness would be unimaginable if there were strict safety standards and regulations laid down by the companies who pay these drivers. That is probably not the case, which is why we have bus accidents like these.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, however, maintains that these buses meet the standards of safety in the United States. Their record, the agency says, is no worse and no better than the record of larger companies that travel within the US.
But there's enough evidence that traveling in these buses can be more trouble than you bargain for. One passenger, who wanted to file a lawsuit against a Houston-based company in a bus accident case, was forced to place the notice of the lawsuit in the paper, after repeated efforts to trace the company owner proved unsuccessful. In some cases, suing these companies seems like a worthless exercise because they are not insured.
The companies also seem to do a great job of covering their tracks. Buses are owned by one company and leased by a different company, making it difficult to pin responsibility in the event of a bus accident.
It's unfortunate that these passengers who can't afford better are dumped in unsafe buses with maniacal drivers and shipped across the border. They are people who work hard here, and deserve to know when they leave for a visit home that they are traveling in a safe vehicle with responsible people at the wheel.
The appalling safety standards of these buses seem to be a potential disaster waiting to happen. Going by the nature of the bus accidents and their increasing frequency and intensity, there might be more severe accidents in the future.
If you have been injured in a bus accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.
Rash Driver Crashes Bus into Donut Shop
January 28, 2008
People sitting at The Donut World near the USC campus had reason to scream in pain, and not from the scalding coffee.
A bus that collided with another automobile crashed into to the front of the shop injuring at least eight people sitting inside. At least one person's injuries were reported to be serious.
According to some accounts, another driver ran a red light before colliding with the MTA bus at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The bus then careened out of control and smashed into The Donut World shop.
After the crash, the bus was left extending several feet into the shop.
Fortunately there were no passengers inside the bus at the time of the crash or we would have seen even more injuries. The people inside the shop were obviously not that lucky.
Rash drivers don't stop to consider the consequences of their actions. More often than not, these drivers cause accidents like the one here, affecting ordinary innocent people who are just going about minding their own business. The only way to bring home to people the dangers of such rash behavior on the street is to make examples of them.
If you have been injured in a bus accident, you need the assistance of an experienced California personal injury law firm. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.
Three Killed in Arkansas Bus Crash
November 28, 2007
Three people were killed and over 40 others suffered injuries in a multi-vehicle collision in Arkansas on Sunday night.
The accident took place on Interstate 40 east of Forrest City just after 10 pm. A bus that was on its way from Illinois to Dallas hopped a highway median and slammed into a pickup truck. The 30-year-old pickup truck driver was killed instantly. The bus was then broadsided by an eighteen wheeler.
Two passengers were found dead on the bus. They haven't been identified yet.
Both the drivers of the bus and the tractor-trailer suffered minor injuries. At least 40 people were rushed to hospitals in Forrest City and West Memphis.
If you've been injured in a bus accident, you might be eligible forcompensation for your medical expenses. Call the California bus accident lawyers at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.
