Tour bus crash in Houston

[luvrbus]

My, daughter sent me a a email about a tour bus belonging to Tejano singer Navaira  crashed on loop 610 in Houston its a Eagle

www.khou.com

[Bob Gil]

looks like he ran up onto the apex and the jesery wall too.

Hope they are better in the morning.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Oooph!

That was a hard hit. That Eagle is totaled..

Nick-

[Nusa]

Saw the clip on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/03/23/vo.tx.emilio.bus.crash.cnn

[Busted Knuckle]

Dang, and Iwas in Houston on Friday & Saturday looking for a cheap deal on a bus and missed this one by a day! That one will be a look buck fixer upper fer sure! LOL!   BK 

[Dreamscape]

This is so sad. Several people injured.

I was in Houston Thursday and Friday, can understand why.

Paul

[JeffsMagicBus]

 From a Human Tragedy Staindpoint This Is Awful... And Man that video on CNN was surreal, sad, lonely, and creepy, from an Eagle standpoint, the curtains blowing in the breeze out the door opening... Kind of reminded me of seeing a sunkin ship.
Too bad about dude being ejected. I'm sure the Eagle has one but my MC-8 has a seat belt but that was one hard, hard, blow. That hurts my feelings big time just seeing her there like that. You know he loved her. He seems like a nice enough dude and their music is really cool too. It's a shame that they say alcohol was probably a factor but to what extent they don't know yet. I'm not talking smack about dude because I don't know him but they said it, not me. It was 5:00 AM and he'd had a DWI charge once but got off with a fine and probation. Too bad nobody cared enough or knew enough to help him because he obviously has a problem. I can't help but to think if he had gone down over the first DWI he most probably would not have been there at that exact moment anyway. I've seen other wrecks as you all have but something about seeing her on that wall like that got to me.
I wish them all good luck and a speedy recovery.
Best Of Luck To All And Keep The Greasy Side Down And The Shiny Side Up!
  Take Care,
                  Jeff

[belfert]

I'm still trying to figure out how the heck a bus comes apart like that.  That photo looks like what a lot of motorhome accidents look like.  It looks a chassis with a box fitted on it, but we all know Eagles are not built that way.

According to CNN, the singer was driving the bus at the time of the accident and he may not survive his injuries.

[chargePlus]

I'm still trying to figure out how the heck a bus comes apart like that.

Moderately high speed, a crushable, bendable bus, and a fairly immovable object (median) even with the absorbing barriers. 30-40,000 lbs moving carries a lot of energy. When the front stops the back is still moving, pushing the front into/through whatever stopped it. That stored energy will bend, break, or shatter anything it goes through as it transfers to the "other" object.

It is sad. I hate to see stuff like that happen. It is all preventable.

- John

[NJT5047]

The bus may have been fragile due to rust issues.  Anyone know what year model the Eagle is?
Older Eagles have major rust issues and that's how they look after being involved in accidents.  Big pieces break off.  Odd that the entrance door isn't more damaged?
Still, if you slam a 30K lb coach into a concrete wall at 70 MPH, something's going to move.
Rust notwithstanding.
JR

[David Anderson]

The KHOU story said he didn't have the proper license.  Great, now DPS will be stopping every big motorhome or bus conversion on the hiway in Texas.  Since it was his band bus (commercial in nature), it needed a driver with a class B CDL to be legal in TX.  He probably had only a class C.

David

[belfert]

I can understand drivers hauling passengers for pay needing a CDL, but I'm not quite sure why a musician driving from gig to gig needs a CDL.  Is the guy who DJs on the weekends and hauls a small trailer going to need a class A CDL soon?

In reality, we all should probably have some sort of special license short of a CDL to drive our monster RVs around.  Air brakes are a whole different animal from hydraulic brakes both in use and upkeep, not to mention the extra braking distance.

[luvrbus]

JR, you can tell the bus didn't have any rust issues look at the siding and roof they are still straight and intact that was a big hit and the drivers area got the worst of it

[compedgemarine]

Belfert
because the bus is used to transport the musician and/or band and they are compensated (paid,given food or drinks or any other compensation) then yes they need a commercial license to drive it. we fought that battle with the racing and our equipment. in the eyes of the law ANY vehicle used for a business purpose or is receiving compensation (even a trophy) is considered to be commercial and if over a certain wieght requires a specific license. they wanted to hit us up for not having a log book in our dually because it was a support vehicle to the race hauler.
steve

[JeffsMagicBus]

  They all would have been up a creek if those impact absorbers hadn't have been there. I mean it is quiet obvious that he fell asleep going right into the split unless a mechanical issue came up. Here in Tennessee I do not have to have a CDL as it is titled as a motor home. To legally operate it here, you have to have a B endorsement on your license. I have an F endorsement from years ago when that is all a person needed to drive a semi. The For Hire endorsment applies to vehicles 24,000 lb. or less.
It doesn't matter what license anybody has if they're drunk and or asleep at the wheel...