Virginia Bus Crash on I-95 Kills 4, Leaves Over 50 Injured

A commercial tour bus traveling to New York City went off Interstate 95 in Virginia and flipped on its roof before dawn Tuesday, killing four people and injuring many more, state police said.

Sgt. Thomas Molnar says 58 people were on board, including the driver. The injured were taken to 11 Richmond and Fredericksburg-area hospitals. Duffel bags, luggage and broken glass still littered the highway hours after the crash.

The Sky Express Inc. bus was en route from Greensboro, N.C., to New York City's Chinatown when it strayed off the interstate, hit an embankment and flipped, Molnar told reporters at a briefing. The bus has since been righted but remains at the scene.

The bus left Greensboro at 10:30 p.m. Monday night. It had seatbelts for the driver but not for the passengers.
State police believe the likely cause was driver fatigue but are still investigating, Molnar said. He said the driver, who hasn't been identified, suffered minor injuries and is cooperating with the probe. The driver has not been charged, Molnar said.

The deaths come about two and a half months after a horrific New York City accident that focused attention on bus safety. In that March 12 crash, a speeding bus returning to Chinatown from a Connecticut casino toppled off an elevated highway and hit a utility pole, peeling off the roof. Fifteen passengers were killed and 18 injured.

Federal authorities say nearly 2,800 spot safety checks of passenger buses across the country from March 28 through April 6 resulted in about 10 percent of the vehicles or drivers being taken off the road.

David Wong, a manager in the Sky Express office in Charlotte, N.C., declined to comment. A telephone message left Tuesday for his attorney, Ruth Yang, wasn't immediately returned.

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has 10 people in stable condition, but no details were released about the extent of their injuries. VCU spokeswoman Anne Buckley says the hospital expects more patients to be transferred there from other hospitals.

Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg treated eight patients, whose injuries ranged from critical to minor. Spokeswoman Deborah Morris says one has been released. Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center officials said in a release that it treated eight people for minor injuries.

The accident shut down the northbound lanes of I-95, which weren't expected to reopen for several hours.

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Comments

[huffpost0000]

12:42 AM on 06/05/2011

I wonder how many illegals were on that bus. If so, I wonder if they can sue or will they do it.

[mellie mel]

07:03 PM on 05/31/2011

I've ridden that bus down to North Carolina and those chinese people is cheap as hell. The tickets was 30 dollars a seat so you know that bus was loaded to the max. They do switch drivers however for the long haul it's the same driver so driver fatigue was most likely the cause. Also they tend to turn off the air conditioning for long periods of time so i can only guess but i know it can get very hot in a full bus and heat means sleepy. put all that together and thats a reciepe for what happened. Not to mention the fact that the passengers are not the greatest people in the world either starting fights and petty nonsense. I hope those people are ok because that could have been me and maybe for a few more dollars per ticket they can improve their safety for themselves and their customers.

[wvlawgal]

07:02 PM on 05/31/2011

I was a chaperone on a high school band trip using a well-known charter company. The drivers were replaced mid-trip-- Nevertheless, in the middle of the night, a few of the adults noticed the bus would drift into the other lane, then abruptly correct. As experienced drivers, we knew what that meant. We tried calling the other buses and even the bus company with no response. We spent the next two hours keeping the driver awake. One dad actually stood up front talking to him. We reported the driver to the bus company. Imagine my dismay when my daughter told me she had the same driver the next trip!! ANYONE and EVERYONE gets sleepy driving at some point. The driver has to be able to admit it and pull over without penalty. It should be encouraged. If companies won't do it, I guess we will have to resort to (gasp) more regulation.

[firststatemate]

06:48 PM on 05/31/2011

The maximum number of passengers that has ever been legally allowed on any tour bus I've ever taken is 47. What bus accommodates 58? 'Splain, Ricky!

[krowgrr]

07:00 PM on 05/31/2011

maybe they picked up some hookers.

[Zach Wright]

10:16 PM on 05/31/2011

well i have been a mechanic on motorcoaches for the past 11 years, and since 1995 or so the first 45ft coaches were built by a few major bus manufacturers " MCI, PREVOST, VANHOOL" the 45 ft coach holds 56 passengers. thats 56 passengers plus the driver and 1 person sitting in the tour guide jump seat in the step well - 58

[firststatemate]

12:04 PM on 06/02/2011

Thanks for the info, Zach! I haven't actual seen or ridded on these larger buses yet. I hope the larger size doesn't compromise the safety. You would know better than I.

[mh3rdwheel]

06:43 PM on 05/31/2011

Last week I was traveling to work around 5 a.m. I was going the speed limit 45mph, when a large vehicle came up behind me and road by bumper then passed me hear it was a tour bus with brights on going around 60mph.

Something need to be done, maybe have a second driver in the bus while one drives and the other sleeps, etc. the should be treated the same as semis.

[bukurhf]

06:39 PM on 05/31/2011

Most of these comments are at best very poorly presented. But one thing has become obvious and long overdue! This country should develop a reliable mass transit system- high-speed rail. But with the lobbyists dead set against it, every individual has to own a personal automobile and the least fortunate have to resort to a decrepit bus system run by very greedy 'business operators'. America is still in the 19th century in so many areas because of capitalism, greed, corruption, etc.It is not all nukes you know!

[ProfranRoach]

06:29 PM on 05/31/2011

You know what the shame is....those buses do not have seat belts, they are not required, just like large school buses. I called my State Senator on that

[pinedalerock101]

06:47 PM on 05/31/2011

They don't listen to State Senator... I am referring to all 50 state senators.
Try Sarah Palin... All eyes and ears are on her right now.. The Media can't seem to get enough of her being in the public eyes.
Good Luck my fellow American!

[hccharles3]

06:20 PM on 05/31/2011

Tour bus passengers and gamblers alert: Take the Greyhound instead! Too many accidents lately!

[jcd520]

06:15 PM on 05/31/2011

You can't be sending text messages and eating Kung Pao chicken while driving a bus. I bet money a cell phone was involved somehow.

[cbee43]

07:18 PM on 05/31/2011

LOL,,,that was funny but in bad taste...maybe a litle bit bigoted?

[monkeyinwrench]

06:15 PM on 05/31/2011

I used to be a commercial driver. The reason I am no longer a commercial driver is that employers of commercial drivers do not care about safety. All bus companies have safety training and safety officers and blah blah blah. But the bottom line is that the DISPATCHER always has the power to over-rule the driver, on DRIVING related safety decisions. If the driver is too tired to drive, the drive has two choices...drive tired or lose his job. The bus driver in this article? It would seem he wanted to try to keep his job.

I've read the ignorant comments that if you are tired you should pull over. The driver can indeed make that wise decision if he/she wishes to be unemployed. That's the way it is. BTDT. I'm no longer a driver as I (personally) believe all driving decisions should be left to the DRIVER. But commercial drivers do not make driving decisions, they are NOT ALLOWED TO. And that's simply insane. But it's what led to this accident. I KNOW it...

[arnoldbowers1]

06:39 PM on 05/31/2011

Without a doubt you never held a CDL. A driver for big trucks always have the last word. The company can require a driver to go out but once he has reached his hours for the day he can pull over and WILL PULL OVER.
Here we have buses and there they play by different rules. First they are seldom checked by DOT while on the road. I blame DOT for always looking the other way for buses. I have never in my life seen a bus pulled over and red lined and am 73 now, I bet my life I never will, why is this, it is because the DOT and the bus companies have a little payola or something going on and they neither care for the life of the folks they are stealing from or supposedly protecting.
Frank Bowers, FIC, 100% DAV Austin, TX

[Susan Schmidt Baker]

06:54 PM on 05/31/2011

EXCUSE ME! I drove for Greyhound for 24 years. I was checked by DOT several times during that time. They checked the bus, my log book, my drivers license and DOT card. I always passed inspection and went on with my trip. Don't talk about things which you know nothing about!

[monkeyinwrench]

03:35 PM on 06/01/2011

Actually, until last year...I was licensed to drive everything that is legal to operate on a public road in the state I was living in at the time. The only way a "big truck" driver has the last word is if he/she is Owner/Operator. (even then, you might be subject to penalties if you work under forced dispatch conditions) Ever seen an O/O bus? I sure haven't. So I guarantee you the driver in this story was forced to drive tired. The only thing I wonder about is, why are there so few incidents like this? There are probably hundreds of thousands of commercial drivers forced to drive tired at any given moment. The relatively low accident rate is therefore a good reflection on commercial drivers, as a whole...
But keeping people alive on the nations roadways shouldn't require extraordinary effort on the part of commercial drivers. That's my point.

[rwkwilliam]

06:13 PM on 05/31/2011

Regardless of what he did wring, he killed four people and injured many others. He should be in jail and charged with manslaughter.

[justbeing me44]

06:02 PM on 05/31/2011

I'm a truck driver and i have the brains to stop when i get tired. But the bus driver being tired isn't the only reason for that crash I will bet money that he was speeding as well to keep on time. Not going to lie the truck i drive will run over 80 and those busses will still pass me. Those bus driver's don't have any special training either. Thats why i don't and never will ride on a bus.

[Susan Schmidt Baker]

06:57 PM on 05/31/2011

I drove for Greyhound for 24 years. Our busses were governed at 72mph when I retired in 2003. We had special training, too. As a matter of fact, I was a road instructor the last 13 years that I drove. We did an intensive 4 weeks of training with students, then sent them back to their home locations to learn the routes. Then they were turned over to regular drivers for 2 more weeks of driving with passengers with a licensed driver in the front seat before they were ever turned loose with a busload of people. If they didn't cut it, they were fired!

[katydid579]

06:00 PM on 05/31/2011

I find it ridiculous there are no seat belts for passengers. Granted, there would be many who would not use them, but many more would if their were available!

[boogiemn476]

05:46 PM on 05/31/2011

This in many ways does not surprise me at all. you will see more of this type of stuff until these companies are held accountable for the underhanded things they do to save a buck. I drove a commercial truck for many years and I can tell you that if that driver got to tired to drive, he knew he was supposed to pull over. Driver Greed will kill people everytime. I bet he had just got off another bus from another trip and hopped up in that bus and took off knowing full well he had not had any sleep or down time and with the full knowledge of the driver or terminal manager. Many truck companies will get rid of the older more experienced drivers to save money and hire newer, more untrained and less ready for this kind of responsibility who they can pay less per mile or by whatever means they get paid. There are trucking companies that would hire a monkey to drive if he would take bananas as pay.

[HandEgrams]

06:18 PM on 05/31/2011

are you sure its Driver Greed - or the company - if one does not do what the Boss tells you to do, "Your Fired" - I do agree with that if you are tired pull over - any driver - - but tired to some is not alwys the problem - drinking and driving don't mix - they drive the same way and don't pull over -

[jhmntz]

07:10 PM on 05/31/2011

As I am a truck driver, I can say it is most likely the DRIVER greed. Unfortunately, buses do not have a bed to sleep in, so drivers cannot just "pull over." What about the passengers on board-what would they do in the mean time? I have on many occasions pulled off because I was just too tired to continue driving. I still have the same job I started almost 2 years ago. Companies would rather see the freight/passengers arrive safely than pay millions in lawsuits.

[jimbo1350]

05:45 PM on 05/31/2011

I regularly deal with checking tour and excursion buses as part of my job, and the majority have checked out basically safe. However, I have found a few with detiorating exhaust systems, poor tires, and heating systems with leaks. One even caught fire while I was checking it in..

[HandEgrams]

06:21 PM on 05/31/2011

you are lucky you were not caught on fire as well - but you are checking has nothing to do with safety seat belts - but concider yourself lucky you are alive - Fire kills too! just think of the people that could have been on that bus if you had not found it first!