Personal Injury Blog

Bus Driver Fatigue Blamed in Deadly Accident

June 22nd, 2011
Bus Driver Fatigue

Maybe the bus driver wasn't the only one sleeping on the job.

A deadly accident in Virginia last week that killed four people is being blamed on driver fatigue.  However, what has really shocked Los Angeles bus accident lawyers is that the accident would never have happened at all if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had decided to pull the company’s buses off the road.

The bus was traveling on a Virginia interstate when it rolled over.  Four passengers were killed and 53 people were seriously injured.  Investigations into the accident have begun.  The driver of the bus, which flipped over on a highway, has told investigators that he was tired while driving.

The agency had the chance to do so.  Over the past few years, the company that operated the bus, Sky Express has recorded a series of safety violations.  In a number of roadside inspections, the company has performed worse than more than 97% of the other bus operators in the United States.  In April, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration decided to pull the company’s buses off the highways, but then decided to give the company a 10-day extension.  The accident occurred during this extension.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is now being criticized for its decision to allow an extension for the company instead of simply ordering it off the road.  The criticism has come from Transportation Sec. LaHood, who released a statement saying that he was disappointed that the company had been allowed to continue operations even when there was enough evidence to show that it was an unsafe operator and should be off the road.  His statement rebukes the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for failing to shut down the company when it had an opportunity to do so.

The Transportation Secretary has also ordered an immediate stop to the granting of extensions to unsafe bus companies.  The federal agency is allowed to grant an extension to bus companies before they close down, but is not required to do so.  According to the Department of Transportation, a total of eight bus companies this year that had been facing imminent closure, have been granted extensions from the federal agency.  In the case of Sky Express, the extension was granted to allow the company to prepare an appeal.

The federal agency’s practice of treating unsafe bus companies with kid gloves has proved deadly.  At least four people have been killed because of the agency’s failure to immediately pull Sky Express buses from the roads.  This should be a lesson to the federal agency about the urgency with which it needs to take up the task of ordering unsafe bus companies to stop operations.

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 to discuss a personal injury matter,  you can reach us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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