California Greyhound Bus Crash Leaves Six Dead, Others Injured
July 22, 2010

Six people were killed and at least 10 others injured when a Greyhound bus crashed on Highway 99 in Fresno, California, early Thursday morning. California Highway Patrol said the bus, carrying 47 people traveling from Los Angeles to Sacramento, swerved off the highway just after 2:00 a.m. when it apparently attempted to avoid an overturned sport utility vehicle on the road.

The bus then slammed into a concrete center divider before striking another car and barreling down an embankment, ultimately running into a tree. Some early reports say that the bus hit the SUV and perhaps another vehicle before crashing into the center divider.

The bus driver and five passengers were killed in the crash. Several others were injured, some critically. The northbound lanes of Highway 99 in Fresno remained closed throughout Thursday as authorities conducted an investigation into the fatal bus crash.

The probe will focus on likely causes of the crash, including high speeds and unsafe driving, as investigators hope to determine the exact sequence of events, including why the bus slammed into the disabled SUV in the first place, if it did.

Bus transportation companies have a duty to provide the highest level of care in providing bus passengers a safe passage to their final destination. Although the investigation has just begun, there is rarely adequate justification for slamming into a center divider, much less a disabled vehicle, on a straight, dry roadway, especially when added vigilance is necessary when traveling at high speeds in the dark, and to ensure safe transport of ticketed bus passengers.

There are usually a number of weak links in the chain of events which lead up to a catastrophic bus accident like this one and all aspects of this case need to be investigated and the cause determined. Those responsible for bus accidents should be held accountable and safety improvements made to help prevent similar bus accidents in the future.  In addition, bus accident victims and their families have a right to seek personal injury and wrongful death damages in bus crash cases.

On average, there are about 9,000 bus accidents a year in the United States, resulting in approximately 330 deaths and 12,000 injuries.

Salient News: Six Killed in Bus Crash