Blog Post

Bus Accident in Mojave Desert Kills Woman


May 19, 2008
Topic: Bus Accidents

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.


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.