Bus Accidents

March 30, 2015

Church Van Wreck Raises Lots of Questions

Earlier today, a 15 passenger van wrecked in Florida killing eight people on board and critically injuring five others. This crash like most other cases involving passenger vans will have a number of key issues including:

Were the occupants wearing their seatbelt? It has already been reported that a 4 year old child was not in a car seat. We also know 18 people were in a 15 passenger van so at a minimum 3 of them were not wearing their seatbelt. In serious accidents, especially frontal crashes, the components of the seatbelt system will have “witness marks” on them if the occupant was wearing a seatbelt. The D-ring, the webbing of the belt and latch will also show signs of load caused by a combination of the accident forces and the occupant’s body weight. While the failure to wear a seatbelt is not admissible in the typical motor vehicle accident claim, it is admissible in a product liability claim.
Were there any mechanical issues with the vehicle or its tires? One of the accident victims has reportedly indicated the driver did not notice a curve in the road and then could not stop in time. So obviously the braking system will be analyzed and likely the tires too. As explained here, churches often fail to adequately maintain their tires.

December 15, 2013

Federal Government Shuts Down Bus Companies That Put Passenger Safety At Risk

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The federal government has prohibited 52 bus companies found to be unsafe from continuing to do business.

Operation Quickstrike, launched by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a part of the United States Department of Transportation, targeted bus companies in 22 states that were found to have engaged in unsafe practices. Some 250 bus companies with past safety issues were targeted in the investigation.

The investigation yielded the following results:

October 29, 2013

Halloween Safety: Slow Down and Be Alert

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Halloween is a wonderful holiday for kids: costumes, trick-or-treating with friends, candy. But, it can also be a very dangerous holiday. A child is twice as likely to be hit and killed by a car on Halloween. Here are some steps to help avoid a tragic accident that will affect the lives of everyone involved forever:

Motorists:

1. Slow down and be vigilant in residential areas especially between the hours of 5:30 to 9:30.

October 17, 2013

Football, Felonies, and Sports Bars Who Serve Alcohol to Drunks

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Sports bars can be a great place to watch a football game: huge televisions, multiple games on at one time, wings, pizza and beer. In the fall, it is easy to see how an entire Saturday or Sunday afternoon can be spent at the bar watching college or professional football. Of course, if you have spent the day drinking, you have no business driving yourself home. Unfortunately, people do so, and innocent people become victims of drunk drivers and the bars that over-serve them.

In our last blog post, we discussed the criminal penalties for first time DUI, which is a misdemeanor. But if a drunk driver harms someone, in many circumstances, the conduct can rise to a felony. If a drunk driver is found guilty of vehicular assault (serious injury to another person by a DUI driver), then the offender has committed a Class D Felony which can result in license revocation from 1 to 5 years (a restricted license is not available), jail time of 2 to 12 years, a $5,000.00 fine and other costs such as attorney fees, bail, etc. Vehicular Homicide (a fatal crash caused by a DUI with a .08 BAC or more) is a Class B felony and is punishable by 8 to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.00. Aggravated Vehicular Assault While Driving Intoxicated is a Class A Felony (requires proof of prior DUI offenses) and is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.00.

In addition to criminal penalties for the drunk driver, the bar or restaurant faces misdemeanor charges if it serves alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated. The bar or restaurant that serves who over-served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person who gives into a car and hurts others may be responsible for any harm caused by the drunk driver such as the victim’s medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, etc. This area of the law is called dram shop or liquor liability law. To learn more about the legal liability of bars and restaurants , follow the link.

October 7, 2013

The Use of Wire Median Barriers and the Bus Accident Tragedy on I-40 in Jefferson County, Tennessee?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The horrific bus accident that took place on Interstate 40 between Knoxville and the North Carolina / Tennessee border gives rise to lots of questions. The media has indicated that a bus tire failed, resulting is a loss of control that in turn resulted in the bus going through a wire median barrier and into oncoming traffic. The bus then collided with an SUV and a tractor trailer.

One question that will be explored is whether the wire median barrier should have prevented the bus from going into oncoming traffic. Wire median barriers, also called cable barriers or safety cable barriers, are installed in medians. The cables are installed on metal posts. The barriers are intended to stop, slow down or redirect vehicles which strike them.

Safety barriers are tested in accordance with National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report No. 350.

October 6, 2013

What Data Will Be Sought By The Investigators of the Bus Crash on I-40 in Jefferson County, Tennessee?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The October 2, 2013 church bus accident on Interstate 40 near Dandridge, Jefferson County, Tennessee that left eight dead and fourteen people injured will result in lots of people on the ground investigating what happened. The Tennessee Highway Patrol will be present, as well representatives of the liability insurance companies for the church bus and the tractor-trailer company. Representatives of the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) will not be present because of the government shutdown.

What data are the professional investigators looking for and what do they hope to accomplish by their efforts? First, they want to document the precise location of all physical evidence – the vehicles, tire marks, gouge marks, damage to medians and wire median barrier, protective devices, etc. All of this data will assist experts in determining the events leading to the crash and fire, and provide information about speed of the vehicles involved.

The investigators will attempt to download the "black box" information for each vehicle. Most vehicles these days have "electronic control modules" that capture certain data for a number of seconds before an event (and other data as well). Some older vehicles do not have ECMs, and some fail to work as contemplated, but an effort will be made to get the data if an ECM is available.

October 6, 2013

NTSB Shutdown Affects Victims of Church Bus Crash on I-40 in Jefferson County, Tennessee

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The government shutdown means that the National Transportation Safety Board has no personnel to investigate the horrible bus crash that took place on Interstate 40 in Jefferson County, Tennessee on October 2, 2013.

The bus was filled with members of the Young at Heart program of the Front Baptist Church in Statesville, North Carolina, who had been attending a conference in Tennessee.

Eight people died in the crash and another 14 persons were injured. The crash has been linked to a front tire on the bus. The bus crossed the median and hit a tractor-trailer and a SUV before it came to a stop on its side. Six people on the bus died, as did two other people.

October 2, 2013

Passenger Bus Tire Failure Accidents

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Private companies, daycare centers or churches that put passenger buses on the road have a responsibility to exercise reasonable care for the safety of bus passengers. That rule not only applies to bus drivers, but also the duty of bus owners to maintain the bus in an appropriate condition.

As you would expect, passenger buses need regular maintenance to be safe. Belts need to be tightened or replaced, bus tires need to be inspected, rotated and/or replaced, and brakes need to be maintained. The failure to do so can result in the failure of an essential component of the bus system, and result in a bus accident that in turn causes injury or death to bus passengers or other people. In addition, bus drivers must be trained to not only do the inspection of the buses but also be prepared to handle mechanical failures of the component parts of the bus system. A multitude of federal regulations apply to protect bus passengers from the errors of bus owners or bus drivers.

Tennessee law provides compensatory damages and, in limited cases, punitive damages to those harmed by a failure of the owner of a passenger bus to property maintain the vehicle. Tennessee law has a very strict deadline for taking legal action – the injured person (or the representatives of a deceased person) must file suit within one year of the date of the incident causing the initial injury or death or the injured or deceased persons rights will be lost forever.

July 30, 2013

Pedestrian Deaths and Injuries Increasing, Nationwide and in Tennessee

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Pedestrian deaths in traffic accidents nationally increased from 4109 in 2009 to 4432 in 2011, according to the United States Department of Transportation.

Deaths to men numbered deaths to women (3086 versus 1345) and 19% of the deaths were a result of hit and run accidents.

In Tennessee, 1221 pedestrians (including skateboarders, people on roller skates, etc.) were injured or killed in traffic accidents in 2010. Davidson County, Tennessee had 275 of those injuries and deaths. There were 83 pedestrian deaths in Tennessee in 2011; the number actually dropped to 68 deaths in 2012. Unfortunately, the 2013 death rate for Tennessee pedestrians in increasing. As of the date of this blog post, 46 pedestrian deaths have occurred. At this same time in 2012, only 35 deaths had occurred.

July 16, 2013

Overloaded Tires on Commercial Buses (Motorcoaches)

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Operators of buses, known in the industry as motorcoaches, place their riders at risk of serious injury or death if they operate the vehicles with tires that are overloaded or are overly worn or damaged. Also at risk are other motorists and pedestrians if the motorcoach experiences a tire failure and the driver of the motorcoach loses control of the vehicle.

The risk is increased in the summer, when the tires are operated in warm weather conditions, increasing the risk of overheating and tire failure.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has warned motorcoach operators of the need to consider maximum tire load carrying capacity and tire speed rating, and allow an adequate tire pressure safety margin when carrying maximum passenger and luggage loads. The failure to take appropriate action can lead to the assessment of penalties against the operator.