Tour bus crash on I-95 in Virginia

[Nusa]

MSNBC story, with picture: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43221988/ns/us_news-life/

4 dead, multiple injuries after I-95 tour bus wreck in Virginia
Police spokeswoman says the vehicle was found turned onto its roof

Four people were killed and several more injured after a commercial tour bus overturned early Tuesday on Interstate 95 in central Virginia, state police said.

Virginia State Police were called to the scene at 4:55 a.m. ET. The vehicle was found resting upside down on its roof about a quarter mile south of the Carmel Church exit, officials said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on the bus, but according to state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller, the vehicle can hold 59 passengers.

The bus' destination hasn't been released and the cause of the crash hasn't been determined.

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

In March, 15 people were killed when a bus returning to New York City's Chinatown after an overnight excursion to a Connecticut casino toppled off an elevated highway and struck a utility pole, peeling off its roof. That accident heightened attention to bus safety among Transportation Department officials and members of Congress.

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.

This is a developing news story. Please check back for more details.

CNN video: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/05/31/va.deadly.bus.crash.wjla

[pabusnut]

I know BK has some SETRA's.  I sure hope this is not one of his!

PAbusnut

[seaton@mta]

According to local NYC news reports this was a bus headed from Charlotte, NC to Chinatown in NYC.  Coach was registered to a Chinese bus firm.

Seaton

[RJ]

I know BK has some SETRA's.  I sure hope this is not one of his!

Steve -

No, not one of BK's, but perhaps he might be interested in the wreck as a parts bus!  Bet he could get it real cheap from the insurance company!

FWIW. . .

[PP]

It even made the west coast news, glad to hear it wasn't one of BK's, Will

[pabusnut]

Glad to hear that it wasn't one of BK's.  

Sad to hear that 4 people lost their lives, probably due to poor maintenance, driver fatigue, cell phone use, or a combination thereof.

I am appalled at the number of truck and bus drivers that I see talking on the phone while driving.

PAbusnut

[robertglines1]

Passanger and trooper  said driver fell asleep.  Bus was ruff looking compared to BK's. If looks =condition

[5B Steve]

   They mentioned on the news here in Indianapolis (Fox 59) the company has been banned to use the major

   interstates by the N.T.S.B. because of all of there previous violations.  If that's the case "WHY ARE THEY

STILL IN BUSINESS)?


  Steve 5B.....

[Nusa]

The updated story at the same MSNBC link:

The driver of a bus that overturned early Tuesday in Virginia, killing four people and injuring 54, was charged with reckless driving.

Sky Express driver Kin Yiu Cheng, 37, is being held at an area jail on $3,000 bond. He suffered minor injuries in the crash on northbound Interstate 95 about 30 miles north of Richmond.

Investigators said driver fatigue contributed to the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Sky Express has been involved in several accidents over the last two years. It also has been cited for 46 violations for drivers being fatigued, which police believe contributed to this crash.

The Sky Express bus departed Greensboro, N.C., on Monday night and was headed to Chinatown in New York City with 58 people aboard, including the driver, said state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar.

The bus had swerved off Interstate 95, hit an embankment and flipped over about 30 miles north of Richmond. The driver suffered minor injuries and is cooperating with investigators, Molnar said. Nearby hospitals say they have treated more than 25 people from the crash, some of whom were released.

Immediately after the crash, Virginia State Police arrested a passenger, Pavion R. O'Connor, 29, of Raleigh, N.C., after he allegedly insisted on standing in the open lanes of the interstate to take photographs of the accident scene, NBC News reported.

Police said O'Connor refused requests to leave and struggled with troopers as they tried to escort him to the side of the interstate. He was charged for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest.

According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records, Charlotte, N.C.-based Sky Express Inc. buses have been involved in four crashes, with one injury or fatality during the two-year period that ended May 20.

Its drivers have been cited for 17 unsafe-driving violations, including eight speeding violations, since 2009. Three of the 46 violations for fatigued driving were classified as serious.

Sky Express also was cited for 120 vehicle-maintenance violations, including one classified as serious. The National Transportation Board was investigating Tuesday's crash. The bus had no passenger seat belts, only for the driver.

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

The records show the company uses 31 motor coaches and 53 drivers, as of May 20. It last underwent a compliance review on April 7.

Deadly bus crashes highlight safety issues

Sky Express offers $30 bus trips between New York and 15 cities in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. It also goes to Washington, D.C.

Tuesday's deaths come about two and a half months after a horrific New York City accident that focused attention on bus safety. On March 12, 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.

The fleets of inexpensive buses plying the highways of the Northeast offer cheap fares, convenient routes and in some cases free wireless Internet. Customers are picked up daily from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Fares are cheap — $10 to $15 for a ride from Boston to New York, compared with $70 or more on Amtrak.

The industry is in the fifth year of a solid boom, thanks to a new breed of bus service that eschews terminals and thrives on low prices. But a string of fatal crashes over six months also has prompted calls for tougher regulation.

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.

A series of proposals announced in May by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood would make it easier for the government to take away bus drivers' commercial licenses if they violate drug and alcohol laws while operating a vehicle other than a bus or if they fail to pay fines.

Passenger Frances Lippette, 69, a retired New York schoolteacher who lives in Raleigh, uses Sky Express about every six weeks to visit her daughter in New York.

She went to the ticket office pick up her seat assignment for a bus that's scheduled to depart Tuesday night.

"Normally, somebody would be here to get your seat assignment," she said.

Instead, the glass booth was dark.

She pays less than half the price of a name-brand bus company for the 8-hour ride. It costs $30 each way.

Lippette said Sky Express was "no worse than Greyhound."

She has noticed drivers speaking in Chinese using a headset. But "I've never seen a driver not alert," she said.

Around the corner from where a Sky Express bus arrived in New York is an office for various bus companies. A sign in the window listed Sky Express schedules and prices. However, a woman at the desk said Sky Express was no longer located there. She handed over a card with phone numbers on it. None of the numbers worked or the mailbox was full.

[seaton@mta]

The bus was carrying 58 people all looking for a bargain rather than going with a well established bus company.   My heart goes out to the victims but it is like they never watch the news and I can't believe that they haven't noticed the recklessness of some of these drivers.

-- Seaton

[Busted Knuckle]

Yes I saw this horrible news yesterday. (and received several calls & emails asking if it was my S217 that had crashed)

Thankfully it was not one of ours!
Now I could either sell them a bus to replace that one or if I'm still interested in how ever long it is until the lawsuits are settled! (the bus will be held in storage until after the lawsuits are settled)

I wish these buses would quit crashing it makes it hard on the rest of us!
  BK 

[robertglines1]

I wish to repeat BK runs a class act! even his older coaches make the one in the picture look like it ---Bob    parts break and drivers make errors.: I would know his ship has a much higher standard .Much!   . I have rode with him.  Bob

[Busted Knuckle]

I wish to repeat BK runs a class act! even his older coaches make the one in the picture look like it ---Bob    parts break and drivers make errors.: I would know his ship has a much higher standard .Much!   . I have rode with him.  Bob

Thanks Bob. But to be completely honest our old '95 S217 looks an awful lot like the one that crashed. Except I've never seen it upside down. (but I have been under it in the pit many times!)

Bob it's the one I had temporarily immobile during the rally when I backed it off the concrete pad into the soft grass!
  BK 

[Len Silva]

It seems that there have been so many of these wrecks lately, the vast majority of them by sleazy operators, running junk equipment with under paid and over worked drivers, most of whom could not get a job with a stand up company.

So, how is it that an operation like Kentucky Lakeside can run well maintained equipment, keep good drivers and still make a profit?

And, why is it that all these decent operators are not raising hell and doing all they can to get the sleazebags off the road?

Blaming the victim is not the answer.  It is government authority and the legitimate businesses who need to police these operators.

[Joe Camper]

 It last underwent a compliance review on April 7.

Doesn't suprise me in the least. A nother deadly burocratic blunder.

Ya lets all get help from these same idiots to keep us safer over here too. NO THANKS