The busing industry has faced much criticism for the many passenger and driver lives lost in tour bus accidents during the firt seven months of 2011.
Fifteen people died when a bus crashed in Bronx, New York (NY), on March 12. The cause of the accident was pure carelessness, and the loss of life could have been easily prevented. An investigation showed that not only was the bus driver at fault, but the busing company World Wide Travel shared responsibility for hiring the driver despite his history of traffic violations. Just two days after that crash, came another in which two lives were lost when a bus traveling from New York to Philadelphia smashed into a guardrail.
A third busing incident involved a Bolt Bus traveling from New York to Baltimore before being pulled over by a New Jersey State Trooper for erratic driving. According to press reports, the bus driver failed a sobriety test and was arrested for a DUI. Thankfully, no one was injured in that incident, but it highlighted the need for action to be taken on doing more thorough screening of potential bus drivers by companies in the motorcoach industry.
The problem with trucks and buses is that they are large vehicles, capable of immense damage. Negligent vehicle drivers should be held responsible for their actions whenever serious accidents occur. There need to be more regulations to hold these corporations liable so that any in protest of such regulations will be shut out of business. As a citizen, you have the right to safe public transportation.
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About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, which has offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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