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.
SL
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.
