Yourlawyer.com (Bus Accidents News)

2 Dead in Minnesota Casino Bus Crash

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A fatal bus crash on I-90 in Minnesota killed two women and injured more than a dozen others. According to a report on StarTribune.com, it could be weeks before the cause of the bus accident is known.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, the bus crash occurred about 3:20 p.m about2 miles west of Austin. The bus crossed the median and the westbound lanes. It ended up in the ditch, where it flipped over, landing with the door side down. There was no construction going on in the area of the accident and weather was not a factor.

The bus, which was owned by Strain Tours bus company of Rochester, Minnesota, was headed back from a casino in Northwood, Iowa. The casino trip was a weekly event.

StarTribune.com is reporting that the driver of the bus suffered a ruptured aneurysm in his chest, causing him to lose consciousness. However, the Minnesota State Patrol has not confirmed this. The driver has been interviewed by police, but they aren't saying yet what he told them.

Pamela S. Holmquist, 56, of Kasson, and Rhonda R. Hill, 52, of Plainview died as a result of the crash. Ten passengers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and eight were treated and released at area hospitals. Only one passenger escaped injury.

According to StarTribune.com, I-90 was shut down in both directions immediately after the crash.. Eastbound traffic resumed about 8 p.m., while the westbound lanes reopened before 10 p.m.

Commercial vehicle inspectors and reconstruction specialists will begin an investigation today, but it likely will be several weeks before it is known what caused the accident.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Strain Tours has reported no crashes in the past 24 months. But StarTribune.com is reporting that Bold Lines, the corporate name of the bus company, paid $20,000 to settle an enforcement case over drug testing for drivers. It also paid $300 to settle a case over driver duty times and recordkeeping. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has also advised roadside inspectors to inspect the company's vehicles because of safety concerns, StarTribune.com said.

NTSB Investigation Reveals Loophole Allows Substandard Buses From Mexico into U.S.

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

It seems that Mexican-made buses—not constructed to U.S. standards—are crossing the border and entering the U.S. Because they are involved in international trade, the buses are not considered imports, according to a federal inquiry. Volvo manufactures buses in Mexico to meet European, not U.S. standards.

"We want to close the barn door," said Debbie Hersman, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member leading the investigation into how, on January 2, a Houston-based bus company owned by Capricorn Bus Lines crashed a 2005 Volvo bus near Victoria. "There are already some horses out." The bus was bringing back Houston residents from Monterrey, Mexico.

Two days of testimony before the NTSB revealed that new buses made in Mexico and delivered directly to the U.S. have to either bear a certificate that they meet U.S. safety standards or carry import documents proving a retrofit has been made. Here is the loophole: if a U.S.-based bus company buys a bus in Mexico and then uses it for, say, Houston to Monterrey routes—such as what occurred in the January 2 bus accident—it is not considered an import. One man was killed and 46 other passengers were injured.

In this case, while the driver and passengers were checked for their legal status and documents, no motor vehicle inspectors—either from Texas or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration—were on duty to check the bus's legal status. Had they, they probably would not have noticed anything wrong since inspectors don't have access to those databases that might have revealed the loophole in how the foreign-manufactured bus was registered domestically and without proper import documents.

Although Texas officials determined that a sleepy driver caused the crash, the NTSB was surprised to learn how far Capricorn went to register the bus using the loophole. Capricorn was cited in 2006 for not having Texas plates. Six months later, it used Green River Buses of Dallas to register it for California license plates. Unlike Texas, that stated does not require a title of ownership so, by 2007, Capricorn had applied for new plates from the Texas Department of Transportation, which thought it was a Californian, not Mexican bus. This all means that Capricorn was never required to present documents showing it crossed the border initially, and legally.

Vehicles imported into the U.S. are required to detail on importation documents how they meet U.S. safety standards. Meanwhile, Hersman and NTSB investigators have focused on how the bus entered the U.S. and if the bus was in compliance with the U.S. safety regulations. The investigation has convinced Hersman that charter companies are using a "loophole big enough to drive a bus through" because highway and motor carrier officials do not have a single standard for all vehicles coming into this country.

There are no buses made in the United States. Buses are made in Europe, Canada or Mexico and new vehicles delivered directly to U.S. dealers must adhere to a series of standards. Buses bought across the border, as this investigation seems to indicate, are not held to the same standards. “It's not one level of safety," said Hersman. "That's what we're concerned about."

Ex-NTSB Chief Confirms Safety Standards Less for Buses

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

While airline crashes tend to get more press, many travelers die in bus and train accidents as well. Take for instance the recent bus crash in August that killed 17 people who were traveling from Houston to a religious event, or the Atlanta bus accident last year that involved the Bluffton University baseball team or the 2002 Texas bus accident that involved Texas church campers.

Jim Hall, formerly of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)—Hall chaired the NTSB from 1994 to 2001—agrees that the traveling public is treated to a different standard if they are on a bus instead of an airliner or train. Further, some of those who died in the two Texas and the Georgia accidents might have survived if a few basic safety propositions, such as seat belts and stronger windows, had been adopted. "There's a strong safety culture in aviation that has been supported by the aviation community, in which fatalities are unacceptable," Hall said. "That same culture we haven't had on our highways. I wish I could explain it."

One basic issue in unaddressed bus safety remains why basic recommendations for long-haul buses made years ago have never been implemented. This lack of action has also confused safety advocates for some forty years. In 1968 NTSB first announced a recommendation to add seat belts to large nationwide buses; however, today, most buses do not offer seatbelts.

U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (Republican-Texas) and Sherrod Brown (Democrat-Ohio) offered a bill to turn some of those long-standing NTSB recommendations into law. At a subcommittee hearing last month, Hutchison pointed to a series of "horrific accidents" over the summer that confirmed the need to implement "sweeping changes" to enhance bus safety. While the law may not immediately pass, it may be reconsidered as part of a highway bill next year.

The motorcoach industry opposes the bill and the American Bus Association (ABA) and other industry groups claim buses are safe just the way they are. The ABA calls the Hutchison-Brown bill "an industry killer" on its Website citing the expense of adding safety featues and supports another bill sponsored by U.S. Representative Bill Shuster (Republican-Pennsylvania), that calls for research but no specific changes.

The NTSB is the agency that investigates serious transportation crashes and issues and has been the most persistent in calling for safety improvements such as: Three-point seat belts, stronger windows, stronger roofs, heat sensors, fire suppression devices, stronger driver certification requirements, training, and more vigorous inspection and monitoring of bus companies. Hall, other safety advocates, crash victims and their families, politicians, and plaintiff lawyers all blame a cowardly federal bureaucracy and a motorcoach industry that, they say, has fought changes for years. "You have years of delay and dithering by the (U.S.) Department of Transportation, and you have an industry that has been a partner with them in not wanting to do anything," said Jackie Gillan, vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

Dangerous Buses Still on the Road Thanks to Poor Oversight

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Following a fatal Texas bus crash earlier this month, federal authorities have been cracking down on bus companies with spotty safety records. But according to a report in The Houston Chronicle, revoking a rogue bus company's license to operate might not be enough to guarantee public safety.

The August 8th Texas bus accident, which killed 17 people, was the nation’s deadliest bus crash since 2005. The charter bus, owned by a company called Iguala Busmex, was taking a group of Vietnamese Catholics to a religious festival in Missouri. The vehicle blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned. In addition to the deaths, 38 people were injured.

Iguala Busmex was an offshoot of another Texas bus company, Angel Tours, and both were operated by Angel De la Torre. Following the crash, it was learned that De la Torre opened Iguala Busmex three days after federal investigators banned Angel Tours from interstate travel after finding safety violations. Despite those violations, Iguala Busmex was able to receive a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number. However, the company had not yet been approved for operation at the time of the accident.

Officials in Texas admit that they do not know how many other bus companies might be operating under new names to get around operating bans the way De la Torre did. But it could be a lot.

According to the Houston Chronicle, around 300 bus companies are legally operating in Texas. Carol Davis, director of the Texas Department of Transportation's (TXDOT) motor carrier division, told the newspaper that two of every five Texas charter bus companies have been ordered off the road in the last two years. She said state officials were trying to find out how many revoked companies were operating under a different name.

Davis said that by late September, TXDOT will begin posting complaints filed against bus companies on its Web site.

Since the August 8 accident, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has also been cracking down on questionable bus companies. Late last week, it ordered Autobuses Rio Verde of Irving, Texas to cease interstate operations because of its links to Green River Buses LLC of Dallas. According to the Associated Press, Autobuses Rio Verde was involved in at least two deadly accidents - the most recent on July 3 - in Mexico before being shut down.

According to the FMCSA, Autobuses Rio Verde and Green River Buses had vehicles, drivers and management in common. Autobuses Rio Verde owner Marco Vasquez previously was the terminal manager for Green River Buses, while Green River Buses owner Luis Patino was manager and safety director for Autobuses Rio Verde.

Autobuses Rio Verde was given permission by the FMCSA to begin operations on June 5, a mere six weeks after Green River Buses was ordered to stop doing business because of an unsatisfactory safety rating, according to the agency.

Owner in Texas Bus Crash Reportedly Cut Corners, Racked Up Violations

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

An insurance company attorney said that an illegally treaded tire responsible for a fatal Texas bus crash earlier this month was already installed on the vehicle when it was purchased. But others who know Angel De la Torre, the owner of the bus, say he regularly cut corners in order to maximize profit at his company, Iguala Busmex. A Houston newspaper is also reporting that, according to records in Texas, De la Torre's bus companies and drivers also amassed a large number of both safety and moving violations.

The August 8th Iguala Busmex accident, which killed 17 people, was the nation’s deadliest bus crash since 2005. The charter bus, taking a group of Vietnamese Catholics to a religious festival in Missouri, blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned. In addition to the deaths, 38 people were injured.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Keena Greyling, a lawyer who represents the insurance company that issued De la Torre's coverage, said the tire was on the bus in July when he bought the used 2002 model from Motor Coach Industries. A spokesperson for Motor Coach Industries told the Houston Chronicle that Greyling's assertions are false.

Others familiar with De la Torre's operations told the Chronicle that he habitually cut corners. Several people, including one drive who worked as a driver for De la Torre, said he failed to screen his drivers and allowed them to work longer than legally allowed.

According to the Houston Chronicle, an earlier bus company owned by De La Torre - Angel Tours - had amassed a number of driver, safety equipment and mechanical violations. Drivers have been ticketed 13 times for at least 65 violations - including faulty brakes, leaking fuel lines, chafed brake hoses, leaking or bald tires, cracked windshields and discharged fire extinguishers - by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers since 2005.

Ten of De la Torres drivers amassed a total 23 tickets or moving violations, including six speeding tickets, eight citations for not carrying insurance on their personal vehicles, two DWI convictions, and a ticket for careless driving in Louisiana, the Chronicle reported.

The man at the helm of the bus that crashed on August 8, 52-year-old Barrett Wayne Broussard, had been cited by police three times since 2001 for motor vehicle violations — once for driving while intoxicated and twice for speeding. Broussard has also failed roadside inspections twice in the last year, both times resulting in his vehicle being taken out of service for driver logbook violations. When the second violation occurred, Broussard was driving for Angel Tours.

According to a Dallas Morning News report, De la Torre opened Iguala Busmex three days after federal investigators banned Angel Tours, from interstate travel after finding safety violations. Despite those violations, Iguala Busmex was able to receive a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number. However, the company had not yet been approved for operation at the time of the accident.

Following the tragedy, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said that “grossly deficient vehicle maintenance” contributed the accident. The agency ordered Iguala Busmex, and Angel Tours to cease commercial operations, after finding that the companies posed an “imminent hazard.” A second order issued to De la Torre, said that his “activities in connection with motor carrier operations pose an ‘imminent hazard’ to the public.”

Third Texas Bus Accident This Month

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that Transportes Los Norteños remains in compliance with national transportation statutes, federal regulators are reviewing the carrier after a harrowing accident in Dallas late Wednesday, the second involving the company in two days. The company has had faulty buses placed out of service 41 times since 2006.

Reports indicate that the driver of the Transportes bus raced for the nearest interstate exit after his brakes appeared to fail, said Kimberlee Leach, spokeswoman for the Dallas County Sheriff's Office. "Hold on!" driver Bernardo Lopez Laurel reportedly warned the 37 passengers aboard the bus, according to Leach, just before it raced along a frontage road and through an intersection before crashing into a vacant gas station. Seconds before, one male passenger jumped out a window, breaking his leg. Another half-dozen passengers were treated at the scene. The day before, another Transportes bus caught fire. In the 41 times that federal or state inspectors stopped or examined Transportes buses since 2006, they were found to be so deficient that they were placed "out of service."

A Transportes bus with the same vehicle identification number as the one in Wednesday’s crash appears to have been inspected at least 15 times in the last two years or more, according to the FMCSA. Also, a bus with the same license plate as that crash was inspected last year and was found to have inadequate brakes and was put out of service. "We're doing a compliance review on them," FMCSA spokeswoman Kristin Schrader said.

According to federal records, Transportes is owned by Hugo Campa and is located at 5621 Harrisburg Blvd. Another bus company at that location, Autobuses Regiomontanos, is owned by Campa's brother, Jose Campa. "He (Hugo Campa) just gets his mail here. I keep his records because I know him," said Nadia Luevano, an Autobuses Regiomontanos employee who added that Transportes does not keep its buses in Houston; they are kept in Monterrey, Mexico. A year ago, a compliance review was conducted on Transportes Los Norteños after the company received several insurance cancellations in a row.

This is the third major incident in nearly three weeks involving Houston-based bus operators. On August 8, a bus carrying 55 Vietnamese-American churchgoers from Houston to Missouri for a religious celebration crashed through a guardrail after a tire blew, killing 17 people. That accident is considered the nation’s deadliest since 2005. Initial reports said the bus blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway, and overturned. That bus was registered to Iguala Busmex; Angel De La Torre owns the Houston-based company. According to the Dallas Morning News, De La Torre opened Iguala Busmex three days after federal investigators banned one of his other companies, Angel Tours, from interstate travel after finding safety violations. Apparently, that is perfectly legal under current federal motor carrier regulations. Iguala Busmex received a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number but was not approved for operation at the time of the accident.

Second Texas Bus Accident Lawsuit Filed

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Another lawsuit has been filed in the Texas bus crash that killed 17 people earlier this month. The complaint, filed by the estate of Cham Nguyen, alleges that negligence on the part of the owner and driver of the bus, as well as the vehicle's manufacturer, caused her death.

The August 8th bus accident was the nation’s deadliest since 2005. The charter bus, taking a group of Vietnamese Catholics to a religious festival in Missouri, blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned. In addition to the deaths, 38 people were injured.

The bus involved in the accident was registered to Iguala Busmex. The Houston-based company is owned by Angel De La Torre. According to the Dallas Morning News, De La Torre De la Torre opened Iguala Busmex three days after federal investigators banned one of his other companies, Angel Tours, from interstate travel after finding safety violations. Despite those violations, Iguala Busmex was able to receive a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number. However, the company had not yet been approved for operation at the time of the accident.

The 52-year-old driver of the bus, Barrett Wayne Broussard, had been cited by police three times since 2001 for motor vehicle violations — once for driving while intoxicated and twice for speeding. Broussard has also failed roadside inspections twice in the last year, both times resulting in his vehicle being taken out of service for driver logbook violations. When the second violation occurred, Broussard was driving for Angel Tours. Broussard, who was injured in the bus accident, is still hospitalized in critical condition.

Following the tragedy, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said that “grossly deficient vehicle maintenance” contributed the accident. The agency ordered Iguala Busmex, and Angel Tours to cease commercial operations Sunday, after finding that the companies posed an “imminent hazard.” A second order issued to De La Torre, said that his “activities in connection with motor carrier operations pose an ‘imminent hazard’ to the public.”

The Nguyen lawsuit is at least the second stemming from the Texas bus crash. Last week, a man whose wife was injured in the crash also filed suit. His wife was the daughter of Cham Nguyen. Nguyen's other daughter, Catherine Tran, also died in the crash.

Fatal Texas Bush Crash Yields Lawsuit

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

A man who lost two family members in last week's Texas bus crash is suing the maker of the vehicle, as well as its driver and owner. Plaintiff Lau Pham's mother-in-law, Cham Nguyen, and sister-in-law, Catherine Tran, were among the 17 who died as a result of the accident last Friday morning. His wife, Bich Ngoc Tran., was also injured in the tragedy.

Friday's bus accident was the nation's deadliest since 2005. Initial reports said that the charter bus blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned.

The bus involved in the accident was registered to Iguala Busmex. The Houston-based company is owned by Angel De La Torre. According to the Dallas Morning News, De La Torre De la Torre opened Iguala Busmex three days after federal investigators banned one of his other companies, Angel Tours, from interstate travel after finding safety violations. Apparently, that is perfectly legal under current federal motor carrier regulations. Iguala Busmex had received a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number but had not been approved for operation at the time of the accident.

Following Friday’s tragedy, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said that “grossly deficient vehicle maintenance” contributed the accident. The agency ordered Iguala Busmex, and Angel Tours to cease commercial operations Sunday, after finding that the companies posed an “imminent hazard.” A second order issued to De La Torre, said that his “activities in connection with motor carrier operations pose an ‘imminent hazard’ to the public.”

Earlier this week, authorities released the driving record of the bus driver, 52-year-old Barrett Wayne Broussard. Since 2001, he has been cited by police three times — once for driving while intoxicated and twice for speeding. Broussard has also failed roadside inspections twice in the last year, both times resulting in his vehicle being taken out of service for driver logbook violations. When the second violation occurred, Broussard was driving for Angel Tours. Broussard, who was injured in the bus accident, is still hospitalized in critical condition.

Pham's lawsuit, filed in state district court in Texas, is asking for unspecified actual and punitive damages. It names Angel de la Torre and his bus firms Angel Tours Inc., Iguala BusMex Inc. and Iguala Bus Ltd. Co. as defendants. Also included were the bus driver and Motor Coach Industries Inc., the bus manufacturer. The lawsuit cites the defendants with negligence.

State District Judge John T. Wooldridge has already granted a request included in the suit that prevents the bus or other evidence from being altered until Pham's attorneys and their accident experts can investigate them. A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for August 25.

Legal Loophole Cited in Texas Bush Accident Probe

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Last week's fatal Texas bus crash has prompted federal authorities to temporarily cease all approvals for new bus companies. That's because a loophole in federal regulations allowed banned bus companies to re-open under new names.

Friday’s crash claimed the lives of 17 Vietnamese Catholics on their way to a religious festival. Dozens of others were injured. Six of the survivors, including the bus driver, remained in critical condition as of Monday. Initial reports say that the charter bus blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned. The bus accident was the nation’s deadliest since 2005.

The bus involved in the accident was registered to Iguala Busmex. The Houston-based company is owned by Angel De La Torre.

Following Friday's tragedy, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said that “grossly deficient vehicle maintenance” contributed the accident. The agency ordered Iguala Busmex, and another company owned by De La Torre, Angel Tours Inc., to cease commercial operations Sunday, after finding that the companies posed an “imminent hazard.” A second order issued to Angel De La Torre, said that his “activities in connection with motor carrier operations pose an ‘imminent hazard’ to the public.”

According to the Dallas Morning News, De La Torre De la Torre opened Iguala Busmex three days after federal investigators banned Angel Tours from interstate travel after finding safety violations. Apparently, that is perfectly legal under current federal motor carrier regulations. Iguala Busmex had received a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number but had not been approved for operation at the time of the accident.

The FMCSA typically approves 100 new bus company applications every month. But John H. Hill, administrator of the FMCSA, told the Dallas Morning News that until his agency can get a better handle on whether other operators are attempting the same thing as De La Torre, all new applications will be halted.

Still, a Texas transportation official told the Morning News that even if the loophole had been closed, the accident might still have occurred because De La Torre had no interest in following the law. Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety pointed out that even though De La Torre obtained a USDOT number for his new company, he had not yet been given authority to operate his buses, but did so in violation of the law.

Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle reported that the Harris County District Attorney is considering filing criminal charges against De La Torre. The last time a Texas bus operator was subject to prosecution followed the 2005 Hurricane Rita bus crash near Dallas that killed 23 nursing home patients. Owner Jim Maples was convicted of failure to maintain his buses and sentenced to six months of home incarceration and six months in a halfway house.

Feds Take Action Against Texas Bus Crash Company, Criminal Charges Possible

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Another bus owned by the Texas company involved in a fatal crash last Friday has been ordered out of service by federal safety officials. Inspectors from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the bus was not authorized to operate. The bus was pulled out of service in Carthage, Missouri, site of the same religious festival victims of Friday's bus accident were to have attended.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officials in Texas are considering filing possible criminal charges against the owner of the bus involved in last week's tragic crash.

Friday's crash claimed the lives of 17 Vietnamese Catholics on their way to a religious festival. Dozens of others were injured. Six of the survivors, including the bus driver, remained in critical condition on Monday. Initial reports say that the charter bus blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned. The bus accident was the nation's deadliest since 2005.

Both the bus involved in the accident and the one removed from service yesterday were registered to Iguala Busmex. Angel Tours Inc. was the tour operator of the fatal trip. Both Houston-based companies are owned by Angel De La Torre.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that “grossly deficient vehicle maintenance” contributed to Friday's tragedy. The agency ordered Iguala BusMex and Angel Tours Inc. to cease commercial operations Sunday, finding that the companies posed an "imminent hazard." A second order issued to De La Torre said that his "activities in connection with motor carrier operations pose an 'imminent hazard' to the public."

Authorities have also released the driving record of the bus driver, 52-year-old Barrett Wayne Broussard. Since 2001, he has been cited by police three times — once for driving while intoxicated and twice for speeding. Broussard has also failed roadside inspections twice in the last year, both times resulting in his vehicle being taken out of service for driver logbook violations. When the second violation occurred, Broussard was driving ror Angel Tours.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Harris County District Attorney is considering filing criminal charges against De La Torre. If a criminal prosecution does occur, it would likely focus on whether he or his companies intentionally provided false or fraudulent records or statements to the Federal Motor Carrier Administration.

The last time a Texas bus operator was subject to prosecution followed the 2005 Hurricane Rita bus crash near Dallas that killed 23 nursing home patients. Owner Jim Maples was convicted of failure to maintain his buses and sentenced to six months of home incarceration and six months in a halfway house.

Deadly Bus Crashes in Texas, Mississippi Renew Calls for Seat Belts

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Two fatal bus crashes in the past week - one in Texas and another in Mississippi - have many asking if seat belts could have prevented at least some deaths. In both cases, the buses rolled over, and witnesses said that some of those killed were ejected from their seats. A total of 20 people were killed in both accidents, and the death toll has many consumer safety advocates once again calling for seat belts to be installed on buses.

The first of the fatal bus crashes, which occurred last Friday morning in Texas, claimed the lives of 17 Vietnamese Catholics on their way to a religious festival. Dozens of others were injured. Initial reports say that the charter bus blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned.

Yesterday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that "grossly deficient vehicle maintenance" contributed to the accident, and took the unusual step of declaring the unlicensed Houston company that owned the bus an "imminent hazard" to public safety and ordered its owner to cease all commercial operations immediately.

Then yesterday, a bus carrying tourists who had been visiting a Harrah's casino overturned near Tunica, Mississippi, killing 43 people. Dozens of people where injured, and at least one is in critical condition. The investigation into the Mississippi bus crash has yet to determine a cause or contributing factors.

Two fatal bus crashes within days of each other has renewed calls for the installation of seat belts on buses. Right now, safety belts are only installed on the driver's seat. Safety experts argue that when multiple deaths have occurred on buses, it has usually been a rollover accident where passengers were ejected from their seats. They contend that seat belts would save lives.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has advocated requiring seat belts on all buses since 1968. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) has balked at such a requirement, insisting there is not sufficient evidence to prove safety belts are needed in passenger buses. The agency also has resisted doing research.

Annoyed by the attitude of the NHTSA, some in Congress are working to enact legislation that would finally require seat belts on buses. In addition to requiring seat belts and stronger seating system, the legislation , co-sponsored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would also mandate glazing on windows to prevent passengers from being ejected.

In the past, the bus industry has successfully lobbied to block such safety legislation. Critics of the industry accuse it of being more concerned with profits than protecting lives of passengers. Adding seat belts would add about 1 percent to the cost of manufacturing a bus.

School Bus Involved in Collision in New Jersey

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0700

A school bus has been involved in a collision and was lying on its side off the road in Woolwich, N.J.

State police and emergency medical services personnel were in the scene, according to FOX affiliate WTXF.

Woolwich Township is located toward the northwest end of Gloucester County, N.J., and is a primarily rural area.

6 dead in bus crash, college team aboard

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0800

A charter bus carrying a college baseball team from Ohio plunged off a highway ramp early Friday and slammed into the pavement below, killing six people, injuring 29 and scattering sports equipment across the road, authorities said.

The bus, carrying the team from Mennonite-affiliated Bluffton University, toppled off the Northside Drive bridge onto a pickup truck on Interstate 75 shortly before dawn, police spokesman Joe Cobb said.

"It looked to me like a big slab of concrete falling down," said truck driver Danny Lloyd, 57, of Frostburg, Md. "I didn't recognize it was a bus. I think when I saw the thing coming, I think I closed my eyes and stepped on the gas."

The impact broke his windshield, pushed his truck into the concrete and wrecked the front bumper, but Lloyd wasn't injured.

Four students, the bus driver and the bus driver's wife were killed, said police Maj. Calvin Moss.

Nineteen students; three in critical condition were being treated at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Dr. Leon Haley said. He said all but two students were awake and talking Friday morning, and doctors were checking them for broken bones.

"All things considered, they are pretty calm," Haley said. "They are very aware of what's going on."

Three other injured people were taken to Piedmont Hospital, and seven were taken to Atlanta Medical Center, Haley said. Officials at the three hospitals said 28 of the 29 were college age, and the age of the other injured person could not immediately be determined.

Piedmont hospital spokeswoman Diana Lewis said the team's coach, James Grandey, 29, was in serious condition and expected to improve.

"This is a profound and tragic day in the life of Bluffton University," school President James Harder told reporters Friday morning in Ohio.

Classes were canceled, and the school called off other sports trips that had planned during next week's spring break, Harder said. He said he had no details on the identities of those killed and injured.

"This is deeply impacting all of our students, faculty and staff. We know these people on a first-name basis," he said. "For now we're pulling together and supporting each other as best we can."

On campus, students and residents of the community filled the school's basketball gym to grieve together and learn more about what had happened. Some wiped away tears as they came in. The university, with about 1,150 students 50 miles south of Toledo, is affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA.

The baseball team had been scheduled to play its first game of the season in Sarasota, Fla., Saturday against Eastern Mennonite College of Harrisonburg, Va., and it had eight more games scheduled in Fort Myers, Fla.

Cobb said the bus was southbound on I-75 when it crashed about 5:30 a.m. The driver may have mistaken an exit ramp for a lane, he said. It was dark at the time, but the weather was clear.

When the bus went off the bridge and landed on its side in the southbound lanes of the interstate.

Five fire trucks were at the scene as firefighters pulled crash victims through the roof of the bus. Baseball equipment bags littered the scene after the crash, and luggage spilled from the vehicle when it was set right side up.

There was blood on the overpass near where the bus went over.

When the bus was righted, it was clear that all the windows on the driver's side had been shattered, and there was considerable damage on the front of bus and on the roof above driver's seat.

Calls Friday to the charter company, Executive Coach Luxury Travel Inc., of Ottawa, Ohio, were not immediately returned.

Bluffton University assistant football coach Steve Rogers said he was working out in the weight room with members of the football team around 6 a.m. when they saw news of the bus crash on television. When they saw the markings on the bus, "that's when reality hit everybody," he said.

"Nobody knew what to say or what to feel," he said.

His players started calling friends on the baseball team, trying to reach some by cell phone. "It hits home harder than it would if it had happened at a bigger school. Everybody knows each other," he said.

The worst part is waiting to find out who was injured and who was killed, Rogers said.

"It's going to rock the school for awhile," Katie Barrington said Friday morning at the university bookstore.

At a chapel service the night before, students a had offered a prayer for their sports teams and other students to travel safely over spring break, said Barrington, a junior from Brooklyn Heights, Ohio.

"Sometimes you take that stuff for granted," she said.

School bus injuries send 17,000 kids to ERs each year

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800

New national data show school bus-related accidents send 17,000 U.S. children to emergency rooms each year, more than double the number in previous estimates that only included crashes.

Nearly one-fourth of the accidents occur when children are boarding or leaving school buses, while crashes account for 42 percent, the new research shows.

Slips and falls on buses, getting jostled when buses stop or turn suddenly, and injuries from roughhousing are among other ways kids get hurt on school buses, the data found.

Injuries range from cuts and sprains to broken bones, but most are not life-threatening and don't require hospitalization. And while the numbers are higher than previously reported, they represent a small fraction of the 23.5 million children who travel on school buses nationwide each year, the researchers said.

The researchers said the results provide a strong argument for requiring safety belts on school buses, something industry groups say is unnecessary and is more than many school districts can afford.

Safety belts, particularly lap-shoulder belts "could not only prevent injuries related to crashes," they could also keep kids seated "so they're not falling out of their seats when buses make normal turns or brake," said lead author Jennifer McGeehan, a researcher at Columbus Children's Hospital's Center for Injury Research and Policy in Columbus, Ohio.

"Our study shows that there needs to be continued vigilance on school bus safety," McGeehan said.

The study appears in November's Pediatrics, being released Monday.

The research, involving nonfatal injuries treated in emergency rooms, is based on 2001-2003 data from a surveillance system operated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Some 51,100 children up to age 19 were injured during the study period, or about 17,000 annually, the researchers said.

Data from the government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through 2005 show that about 8,000 children are injured each year in school bus crashes but on average fewer than nine are killed numbers that have remained stable for the last decade or so, the agency said. The tally is based on police reports, and not all injuries resulted in emergency room treatment.

In a 2002 report to Congress, NHTSA recommended against lap-only belts in school buses because they can be risky, especially in small children, by restraining them high on the abdomen, potentially causing internal injury in a crash.

Five states -- California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York and some districts have implemented varying safety belt requirements for school buses, according to the National Coalition for School Bus Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"It's an expensive proposition to outfit school buses with lap-shoulder belts, not just because of the cost of the equipment but because it also reduces seating capacity," said Robin Leeds of the National School Transportation Association, an industry group that represents school bus companies.

She said school buses are the safest way for kids to get to school, with or without safety belts.

The American Academy of Pediatrics advocates having lap-shoulder belts on all new school buses and supports having adult monitors on buses, too, said Dr. Barbara Frankowski, a Vermont pediatrician and chair of academy's council on school health.

However, Frankowski added, "it's kind of unfair to say each individual district has to suck up the cost."

Injuries from bus accidents exceed estimates

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800

Children riding on school buses suffer about 17,000 injuries each year, far more than previous estimates, according to a new study that highlights a controversy over whether such buses should be outfitted with seat belts.

The results show that children ages 10 to 14 have the greatest chance of injury, suggesting that injury-prevention efforts should focus on that group.

School buses are still among the safest ways to travel, child-safety experts stressed. Accident rates for passenger vehicles taking children to or from school are far higher than the rate for school buses, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

But the new report, published today in the journal Pediatrics, indicates that some risks on buses may have been overlooked.

For example, the authors found that only 42 percent of bus injuries that required emergency-room visits happened during a crash. Many of the rest occurred when students fell during sudden stops, or while getting on or off the bus.

"We don't want to make parents fearful of putting their children on a school bus," said Dr. Marilyn Bull, co-author of the study and a developmental pediatrician at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Still, "even we were surprised at how many injuries are actually reported," she said.

The outcome may not come as a surprise to bus drivers or to the children themselves.

Veteran Crystal Lake, Ill., bus driver Thomas Bramley has seen children slide off their seats into the aisle and bounce around like little balls with backpacks. And yet he says with certainty that his little charges are cocooned in one of the safest vehicles on the road.

"If we're braking hard or going around corners, if the kids are not in their seats correctly, yes, they can be bounced around or slip," Bramley said. "But for the amount of kids transported daily, the school bus has proved to be the safest transportation."

The relative safety of buses is clearest when it comes to fatal injuries. Federal estimates are that school buses account for 0.2 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, compared with 1.5 fatalities per million miles for passenger vehicles.

Yet previous studies missed many nonfatal bus injuries. In 2002 the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that child passengers on school buses had just 5,500 injuries per year.

That previous estimate relied on a national database on vehicle crashes and would have excluded injuries on field trips that took place outside of school hours. The new study, led by epidemiologist Jennifer McGeehan of Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio, drew from a different database containing information on emergency-room visits resulting from school-bus injuries from 2001 to 2003.

NHTSA, which sets standards for school buses, requires seat belts for buses under 10,000 pounds but not for larger buses, which are better able to absorb impacts.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all new school buses include seat belts. But experts say it's not obvious that the potential benefits warrant such a move.

In a 2002 report to Congress, NHTSA found that lap belts might cause more injuries than they would prevent. Children's heads could snap forward and strike the seat in front of them, raising the risk of neck injuries.

Installing three-point lap and shoulder belts would reduce the risk of injury, but the federal agency estimated that such a measure is likely to prevent just two fatalities each year nationwide. At the same time, the cost of putting such seat belts in all new buses sold nationwide would be up to $150 million each year.

Despite the expense and uncertain payoff, many parents and researchers say it simply feels right to install seat belts in an era when children are told that they must wear restraints in other vehicles.

"When they get in a bus and don't have to wear a seat belt, it's an uncomfortable feeling for many children," Bull said.

School bus injuries send 17,000 kids to ERs each year

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700

23 hurt in S.I. bus accident

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Twenty-three people were injured Wednesday in an accident involving a city bus and a tractor-trailer near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island, authorities said.

The Fire Department said 20 people were taken to local hospitals with various injuries. The NYC Transit said none were life-threatening. Three others were treated at the scene, and four refused medical aid.

The accident, involving a Manhattan-bound X-1 bus, occurred at 8:07 a.m. in the eastbound lanes next to the bridge's toll plaza, said NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton.

The bridge connects Staten Island with Brooklyn.

The cause of the accident was under investigation, Seaton said.

Several Reportedly Dead In Tour Bus Crash

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Multiple passengers were injured when a Greyhound bus traveling from New York City to Montreal crashed through a guard rail on the Northway late Monday and landed upside down at the bottom of an embankment, police said.

State police reported six unconfirmed deaths, but they have not yet been confirmed by a medical examiner, said Trooper Ryan Bentley of the Westport barracks.

The Plattsburgh Press Republican reported from the scene that several people were killed. Former Mayor Daniel Stewart and his partner, Jon Recor, were among the first people at the crash site. They provided a blanket to cover some of deceased passengers.

The bus was driving northbound on Interstate 87 at about 6:45 p.m. when it overturned just before exit 31 near Elizabethtown.

At least 20 passengers were lying on blankets and stretchers while receiving care from medical personnel, while others still remained trapped on the bus at 8:30 p.m.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Elizabethtown, Plattsburgh and Glens Falls. CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh was in disaster mode and called City Police Department for help with crowd control.

The highway remained closed late Monday between Exits 30 and 31 in both directions.

The back and top of the bus was crushed and one of its back wheels was turned inward.

Westport is 110 miles north of Albany.

Northway shutdown after fatal bus accident

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Police say six people have died in a bus accident that happened on the Northway between exits 30 and 31.

But Trooper Ryan Bentley from the New York State Police in Westport says the deaths haven't been confirmed by a medical examiner yet.

Bentley also says that there are numerous other serious injuries after the Greyhound Bus crashed through the guide rails and ended up flipped over in the median.

At this time, the Northway remains closed to all traffic between exits 30 and 31. We have crews on the way to the scene, and will have more details as soon as they become available.

Jury awards bus crash victims $17.5 million

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0700

A McLennan County jury decided Thursday that the bus involved in a deadly 2003 Interstate 35 crash near Hewitt was defective because it didn't have seat belts and awarded $17.5 million in damages to bus passengers.

After 15 hours of deliberation, jurors in the four-week accident liability trial gave the plaintiffs everything they sought in their lawsuit against Motor Coach Industries, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based bus manufacturer.

“A person who sits on a bus ought to have the opportunity to be as safe as possible,” said David Hinton, of Temple, whose mother Dolores Hinton was killed in the accident. “To not have a seat belt on a bus, knowing what buses can do in an accident, is unacceptable. Clearly we had to have a trial in order to prove that point.”

Motor Coach spokeswoman Pat Plodzeen said the company would appeal the verdict.

“Passenger safety is the highest priority for (Motor Coach), and we stand behind the design of our coaches,” she said.

Plodzeen said that Motor Coach buses, like all other tour buses manufactured for North American use, do not include seat belts because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other industry experts have found that installing seat belts would not “enhance overall occupant protection.”

The accident occurred when 34 people from Memorial Baptist Church in Temple were traveling in a chartered bus to Dallas on Feb. 14, 2003, for a Christian music concert. The bus driver lost control in rainy conditions near Hewitt, crossed the median and crashed into a southbound Chevrolet Suburban.

Seven people were killed in the accident, including five on the bus and two in the Suburban, according to an accident report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Nineteen bus passengers and their family members sued Motor Coach for a range of damages, including medical bills, past and future lost wages, burial expenses and the mental anguish resulting from the death of a spouse or parent.

In Judge Jim Meyer's 170th State District Court, plaintiffs' lawyers argued that buses without seat belts are unreasonably dangerous, despite the fact federal regulations do not require them. They said seat belts, along with laminated safety glass on passenger windows, would have protected passengers who were ejected from the bus in the Valentine's Day accident.

The plaintiffs urged the jury to embrace the case as an opportunity to enact change in bus safety standards.

“I think that what the verdict reflects is that the jury saw this as a significant issue and an issue that requires significant response,” lawyer Thomas Brown, of Houston, said after the trial. “Our hope is that this in fact will be a verdict that leads to change.”

Defense lawyers argued that Motor Coach designed its buses with a range of safety features, including “compartmentalization,” or restraint consisting of high-backed, padded seats. They said the bus was designed to protect passengers in the most commonly occurring accidents, which are collisions that do not involve the bus rolling or tipping over.

After the trial, some jurors said compartmentalization was not an acceptable safety measure.

“If that bus turns over, right out the window you go,” said Gary Paris, 60, of West, the jury foreman. “You've got no protection at all.”

Defense lawyers also argued that the bus driver, whom they said was driving too fast for the rainy conditions, was the cause of the accident, deaths and injuries.

But in interviews after the verdict, jurors indicated that they adopted the plaintiffs' argument that a need for seat belts in buses eclipsed the specifics of the crash or minimum federal standards.

“My personal view is everybody has waited for somebody else to do something and nobody has done nothing for public safety,” Paris said.

“You can meet minimum requirements, but can they do more to make it safer for the public?

“I hope in five years when my grandson gets on a bus, if he's got to go on a school trip or whatever, I hope that there are seat belts on that bus so he can have the choice to use it or not,” Paris said.

A second trial with a second set of plaintiffs from the same case has yet to be scheduled. The second trial involves plaintiffs who sued Motor Coach after Texas tort reform laws took effect in 2003. The lawsuits completed Thursday involved plaintiffs who sued before tort reform took effect.

NHTSA Issues School Bus Recall

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700

The National Traffic Safety Administration has issued two school bus recalls: one for a window defect that the agency warns could result in serious injury or death, the other for improper welds on some seats.

NHTSA says 200 Sturdibus units manufactured by the U.S. Bus Corporation are affected by the window-defect recall which is scheduled to begin this month.

The agency reports on its Web site that "in the event of a vehicle crash, its is possible that passenger contact with the window could cause the window to dislodge from its gasket or seal and permit passage of a passenger's head through the resulting opening."

This NHTSA concludes, "could result in serious injury or even death."

The agency says that the Sturtibus school buses, manufactured in 2005 fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 217, "Window Retention."

U.S. Bus Corporation has not provided the Agency with a remedy or notification schedule. Bus owners who do not receive a free remedy for affected vehicles should contact U.S. Bus Corporation at 845-357-2510.

In a second recall, NHTSA reports that and undetermined number of Sturdibus unites and Universe School Buses were manufactured with improper or missing welds on some school bus passenger seats and crash protection.

In the event of a frontal crash, according to the agency, the barrier may fail to restrain a front seat passenger.

Bus Safety in Our Area

Wed, 11 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Hundreds of buses are used everyday to transport students in our area and bus officials say they're working hard to make sure those kids are safe.

"It's just very shocking and very disturbing because it can happen to anybody at any given time," says transportation supervisor for Auburn-Washburn School District, Susan Rosetta, "as school bus drivers we don't like to see that happen."

A bus accident just a few weeks ago near Topeka on the Kansas Turnpike sent six to the hospital, three of them children.

Rosetta and others in the Auburn-Washburn District say safety is number one for their buses.

"We talk safety all the time, so I feel like we have very good drivers out here," she says.

The bus is also built to keep passengers safe.

"It is the most well-constructed vehicle on our roads today," says Debbie Romine from the School Bus Safety Boards at the Kansas Department of Education, "it is the safest form of transportation on our roads."

But, Kansas buses aren't required to have seatbelts.

"They really have not come to a conclusion that seatbelts are a cost effective safety measure on a school bus at this time because we have so few fatalities," says Romine.

But Rosetta says she expects seatbelts will be going into her buses soon.

"I know it's coming, within the next 5 to 10 years, everybody's going to have seatbelts on buses," says Rosetta, "it's just something we're going to have to look at."

Rosetta says a lap belt alone doesn't protect kids in a school bus crash.

She says only seatbelts that have the shoulder restraint will be effective.

And only two kids fit on a seat with seatbelts, three can fit without them.

That means more buses, more drivers and more cost for the bus companies.

Recent School Bus Accidents Revive Calls For Seat Belts

Tue, 10 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

A bus carrying 53 students hit two cars stopped at a red light in Liberty, Mo., on Monday morning, killing two adults in the cars and sending 23 students to the hospital.

Several students suffered life-threatening injuries and were taken by helicopter to local emergency rooms. "We have head injuries, broken bones (and) a lot of fractures," said Jennifer Benz, spokeswoman at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., where nine students were being treated.

The cause of the accident, the latest in a series of fatal crashes involving a school buses, is under investigation. But the accidents have renewed calls to put seat belts on the nation's 585,000 school buses.

School buses are the safest way to travel to school. Nonetheless, an average of 20 students are killed every year; five while riding the bus and 15 run over by buses while getting on or off them. And the image of students killed or injured in bus accidents can make parents shudder. In recent weeks:

Two students were killed April 28 in Arlington, Va., when a school bus collided with a garbage truck.

A school bus equipped with seat belts in New York City flipped April 26. The 44 sixth-graders on board suffered minor injuries.

A 16-year-old high school sophomore died March 29 in Ripley, Okla., when a bus struck a flatbed truck. The driver of the truck also died. The bus driver faces charges of negligent homicide.

"School buses are old-fashioned, out-dated and don't give children the benefit of current safety techniques," says Alan Ross, president of the National Coalition for School Bus Safety. He says school buses should have seat belts and be redesigned so they are not so top-heavy and prone to rolling over.

New York, New Jersey and Florida require new buses to have seat belts, but only New Jersey and Florida require students to use them, says Michael Martin, executive director of the National Association for Pupil Transportation, which represents school transportation directors and the school bus industry.

Seat belts would save about one life a year, Martin says. Installing seatbelts similar to those in cars would add about $4,000 to the $80,000-$95,000 cost of a new 66-seat bus, he says.

School bus travel is the safest way to get to school when measured by miles traveled or number of trips, according to a 181-page report called The Relative Risks of School Travel, produced by the Transportation Research Board, an independent panel that advises Congress. Most dangerous: teens driving to school - 100 times more deadly than riding a school bus, when measured by miles traveled.

"The image of a school bus wreck or a plane crash grabs you. People don't identify as closely with the fact that 43,000 people die every year in car crashes," says Douglas Robertson, director of the Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina.

The 8:30 a.m. bus crash in Liberty, Mo., sent panicked parents to the scene. Motorists and workers in nearby stores rushed to help the injured children. The bus was carrying kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students to school in Liberty, a town of 28,000 just northeast of Kansas City. "It's a worst nightmare," said Liberty School Superintendent Scott Taveau.

Accident Raises Issue of Seat Belts For School Buses

Tue, 10 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

After onlookers scrambled to pull injured children from a school bus involved in a fatal crash near Kansas City, the question came up time and again: Why aren't seat belts required on school buses?

Two people in cars were killed Monday morning in Liberty, Mo., when a school bus carrying more than 50 children crashed into their vehicles. Twenty-three children were hurt. Two remained in critical condition Tuesday.

The grade schoolers were tossed from their seats, suffering injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to broken bones and internal damage. Vickie Whattoff, a grocery store worker who rushed to help the children, wondered if some of the injuries could have been prevented if the bus had seat belts.

"I just don't understand," she said.

But the federal agency that oversees school bus safety cites one study after another showing that seat belts are unlikely to help in a serious bus accident.

"We've got close to a half-million buses on the highway driving four-and-a-half billion miles a year, and we have fewer than seven school passenger fatalities nationwide," said Rae Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "It's probably close to eight times safer riding on a school bus than it is riding in a passenger car."

Tyson said it is difficult to design shoulder-lap belts to fit children of all sizes. He noted that the same bus that takes kindergartners to school in the morning may transport high schoolers later in the day. Also difficult is persuading 40 or 50 rambunctious kids to wear their belts properly.

Meanwhile, Tyson said, school buses are designed to lessen impact. In a wreck, a process called compartmentalization provides a safety "cocoon" for children. Seat backs are cushioned and designed to give upon impact, softening the blow if a child is thrown forward.

Three states - New York, New Jersey and Florida require seat belts on new full-sized buses. Between 300 and 400 other school districts nationwide require seat belts even though their states don't.

It isn't cheap. The cost of fitting a full-sized school bus is $1,500 to $1,800. And if shoulder-lap belts are installed, only two kids fit on a bench instead of three, meaning additional buses may be needed.

Scott Taveau, superintendent of the Liberty School District, said it was too early to know if belts would have helped in Monday's accident. He wasn't sure if the district would consider seat belts for its buses.

The National Coalition for School Bus Safety has long called for seat belts. Shoulder restraints are preferred, but lap belts would be better than nothing, said Alan Ross, a Connecticut dentist who leads the coalition.

"These kids on the bus would have been a lot better of if they had been restrained instead of bouncing around like a pinball," Ross said. "Compartmentalization is grossly inadequate."

The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services said it supports lap-shoulder belts for school buses, but the second-best choice is no belt at all. Lap belts without a shoulder harness tend to cause even greater injuries, according to the organization that oversees state directors of public school bus services.

"Every study looked at repeatedly says compartmentalization works and works well, but it's not perfect," said Charlie Gauthier, executive director of the association. "The only way to make it better is with lap-shoulder belts."

Ross worries that the lack of seat belts on school buses sends a bad message to children, a message he believes shows up in teen driving death statistics.

"We give them an inappropriate mixed message as children. We tell them it's important to buckle up, then they don't have to on the bus. They're totally confused," he said.

In April, one child was killed and 14 injured when a bus carrying grade schoolers collided with a trash truck in Arlington, Va.

In November, a freshman at Royal Palm Beach High School in Florida died when her bus collided with a pickup truck and rolled. Diana Kautz was ejected from the bus.

The most recent fatality involving a school bus passenger in Missouri was in February 2004 in Bowling Green, about 100 miles north of St. Louis. A school bus was traveling at highway speed when it rear-ended a stopped asphalt truck, killing a ninth-grade girl and a highway worker.

In October 2003, a tractor-trailer collided with a school bus near Shields, Kan., in the western part of the state, killing a 6-year-old boy.

Asks Seat Belts For Students

Tue, 10 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (8th Senate District) recently renewed his call for the required use of seat belts on school buses throughout New York State. This renewed effort comes in light of the recent school bus accident involving students from St. Christophers School in Baldwin, in which the school bus they were aboard overturned on a roadway in Queens.

"New York State mandates that all passengers under the age of 16 wear not afforded to our students as they travel to and from school. This is a contrast that must be remedied so that the children are taught consistently that seat belts save lives," stated Fuschillo. "New York State must be uniform in its approach to the safety of our children and in what we teach our children at home and in our schools."

Senator Fuschillo has sponsored legislation that would require all passengers on any school bus equipped with seat belts throughout New York State to utilize those safety belts. According to the legislation, operation of the school bus would be prohibited until after all in the bus were duly protected. The legislation also would call for a sign to be posted on every school bus stating that New York State law requires the usage of seat belts while the bus is in operation.

State law does currently require that all bus drivers be restrained by a safety belt before operation commences.

The legislation is currently before the Education Committee of the New York State Senate.

School Bus Crash Kills 2

Tue, 10 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

A school bus slammed into two vehicles as it approached an intersection Monday, killing two people in the cars and injuring 23 elementary students.

Investigators said they dont know why the bus veered into the cars, which were waiting for a stoplight to change in this community about 15 miles north of Kansas City.

Two children were taken to hospitals with life-threatening injuries. Some of the children suffered head injuries, cuts, scrapes, broken bones and neck injuries, said Laura Fitzmaurice, head of the emergency department at Childrens Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Many were bleeding and crying for their parents.

"One little boy had his teeth knocked out and he asked me if he was going to be deformed," said a shaken Vickie Whattoff, one of about 20 workers from a nearby grocery store who responded. "We saw that it was a bus and ran over and started helping kids out."

The cars were nearly demolished. Missouri Highway Patrol spokeswoman Angie Weddington said those killed were in the cars. Twenty-three students were taken to hospitals, Liberty School Superintendent Scott Taveau said.

"Its a worst nightmare," he said. "This is a tragedy for this community."

The bus was taking 53 kindergartners through fifth-graders to Ridgeview Elementary School when the crash happened about 8:30 a.m. The students ranged in age from 6 to 11.

The bus driver, whose name was not released, was being treated at a hospital Monday. Taveau said the driver was a seven-year veteran driver who had "an impeccable record."

Immediately after the crash, dozens of workers at nearby businesses rushed to the scene to help the children off the bus.

"We were standing outside on a break when we heard a loud boom and saw a big cloud of dust," said Whattoff.

Many of the workers sat with the children, she said, comforting them while waiting for rescue crews to show up.

School Bus Accident Renews Seat-Belt Debate

Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

The bus accident in Arlington, Va., last week that killed two children has many people asking whether school buses should have seat belts (either lap belts or the lap-shoulder type, which safety experts prefer).

It may seem like a no-brainer to have seat belts, but only three states New York, New Jersey and Florida -require lap belts on newer large buses. In July, California will begin requiring lap-shoulder belts on all new school buses.

Why don't all states require seat belts on big buses?

Some safety analysts say they aren't necessary. Here is some of the research they mention:

Kids going to or from school are more likely to be hurt if they're riding in a car, biking or walking than if they are on a school bus.

School buses are made to be especially safe, with high backrests and padded benches. ''A school bus holds children like eggs in an egg carton,'' said Liz Neblett, of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington.

Putting lap belts in buses might cause more injuries in a serious crash, a 2002 study found. As for the lap-shoulder belts, many kids don't wear them properly, which increases their risk of injury.

But some people say it doesn't make sense to have one set of rules for kids riding in cars (sit in booster seats, be in the back seat, be buckled up) and another set for kids on buses.

Here are the arguments for belts:

It couldn't hurt. ''We know from our car experience'' that belts save lives, said Alan Ross, president of the National Coalition for School Bus Safety in Torrington, Conn.

Belts are required on small school buses, why not large ones? Buses that weigh less than 10,000 pounds used to transport some preschoolers and special-education students are required to have either lap or lap-shoulder belts. (Bigger school buses weigh 23,000 pounds or more.)

Cost shouldn't be considered when it comes to safety. School-bus makers say that installing lap-shoulder belts costs as much as $7,000 per bus. There are some 450,000 school buses in the United States.

There is no doubt that school bus accidents are rare. Consider this: The number of kids who ride a school bus each day is equal to the total population of Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon, with few accidents. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do all you can to be safe on the bus. So sit down and stay in your seat. Even if you aren't buckled up.

Should School Buses Have Seatbelts?

Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700

They carry our most precious cargo, but are school buses really safe?

Nobody questions that more than McAllen bus driver Tony Reyes, a fourteen year veteran behind the wheel.

"It's a big responsibility to be safe, because you have to keep track of what's going on in the back and you have to keep track of the front. You really have to watch the children," said Reyes.

McAllen ISD's Transportation Director Carlos Vargas says the size and sheer strength of a bus keeps kids safe, especially during a wreck.

Then there is a safety standard known as compartmentalization. The high backed bus chairs are built specifically to shield students from injury.

Vargas said, "in the event of an accident, the child's safety would be very high. If he (student) were to hit the front seat, the chairs have high energy absorbing seatbacks."

Many parents would like seatbelts as an added feature, but Vargas says they're more of a setback.

Small children are essentially trapped if the vehicle ends up submerged in water and he claims seatbelts can also be used as weapons.

"There's no studies that show that having safety belts inside of school buses provides more safety for the students," said Vargas.

During his tenure, Reyes has experienced plenty of near misses with careless drivers. However, he says he is confident children are protected when they're riding with him.

"The bus is safe because it's strong. It's built to withstand the bang of another car."

Experience speaks volumes.

Bus Accident Lawyer Injury Attorney Lawsuit

Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Bus Accident Lawyers

Keywords: Bus Accident Lawyer Injury Attorney Lawsuit

The lawyers and attorneys at our firm offer free case evaluations to the victims of bus accidents and their families. Bus accidents seriously injure and kill hundreds of people each year. If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury as a result of a bus accident, we urge you to contact one of our bus accident lawyers as soon as possible to discuss your rights.

If you or someone you know have been injured in a bus accident, you need an experienced lawyer on your side. Because buses are often owned and operated by government entities, such as school districts, issues of liability can become complicated. Our bus accidents lawyers have helped many people in the aftermath of these devastating accidents, and we will use that experience to make sure you are treated fairly.

Bus accidents can involve those used for public transportation, buses run by private companies for long distance travel, tour buses, and even school buses. Bus accidents can be caused by a number of factors including driver error or fatigue, poor road conditions and maintenance issues. Regardless of the cause, our bus accident lawyers will work hard to make sure that the victims of these incidents, and their families, receive the compensation they need to resume a normal life.

Bus Accident Injures

Between 1999 and 2002, there were approximately 325 buses involved in fatal accidents. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, 19,000 people were injured in bus accidents in 2002. California, New York and Florida had the highest number of bus accidents. School buses accounted for 39 percent of the fatalities and municipal buses were responsible for 37 percent. Other vehicle drivers made up 58 percent of the fatalities and non-motorists (pedestrian and bicyclists) made up 27 percent.

Bus accidents can result in horrible injuries to passengers, pedestrians, and riders in other vehicles. These include brain and spinal cord injuries; sprains; fractures; abrasions; internal and soft tissue injuries; burn injuries; and death. The victims of these accidents and their families face enormous medical bills, and are often too disabled to work. The bus accident lawyers at our firm will do everything possible to make sure our clients have access to the resources they need to rebuild their lives.

Causes of Bus Accidents

There are many reasons for bus accidents. Buses are so large and heavy, they can be difficult to drive. Inexperienced or poorly trained drivers have been a major factor in many bus accidents. Drivers who are overly tired or distracted have also been the cause of some bus accidents. In more than a few instances, driver intoxication or drug use has been a factor in bus accidents.

The condition of a bus is also behind many accidents. Because they are so massive, the braking system on a bus must be well-maintained. Unfortunately, bus companies make money only when their buses are on the road. Because of this, maintenance problems are often ignored until it is too late.

Other factors, like poor road conditions, overloaded buses and the absence of safety equipment on a bus can also cause or contribute to bus accident injuries. Our clients can be assured that our bus accident lawyers will thoroughly investigate an incident to make sure that all parties responsible are held accountable for a bus accident.

Bus Accident Legal Issues

Dealing with a bus company, government entity or the insurance company after a bus accident is nothing like dealing with an incident involving a private passenger car. It is very important that you retain an experienced bus accident lawyer who can act quickly on your behalf to file the required notices and preserve your claim against the responsible party.

Liability for bus accidents is usually easy to establish if a bus is privately owned. When it comes to private companies, states consider the owner or owners of a bus to be "common carriers". Under most state laws, common carriers have a higher level of responsibility to drive with the utmost care and protect the passengers and other vehicles sharing the road. In some cases, this means that establishing liability against a common carrier is relatively easy.

Liability can be more difficult to establish in cases where a bus is owned by a government authority. Even when the bus driver is clearly at fault there may be an attempt to avoid compensating injured persons on the basis of governmental immunity. Because such governmental immunity laws vary by state and can be complicated, it is important to have an experienced bus accident lawyer on your side to protect your rights.

Legal Help for Victims of Bus Accidents

If you or a loved one have been injured because of a bus accident, you have valuable legal rights. Please fill out our online form or call 1-800 LAW INFO (1-800-529-4636) to discuss your case with an experienced bus accident lawyer.