Bus company ordered to pay $5.2 million in bus crash case

On 09.01.09, In Border News, For your information, By PMC

A Noreste bus of the type involved in a 2007 accident which resulted in a $5.2 million dollar jusgementAn investigation by Mexican authorities conducted shortly after the wreck placed no criminal responsibility on the bus driver, who was released from custody moments after the crash,

A Noreste bus of the type involved in a 2007 accident which resulted in a $5.2 million dollar jusgementAn investigation by Mexican authorities conducted shortly after the wreck placed no criminal responsibility on the bus driver, who was released from custody moments after the crash,

An Hidalgo County jury has entered a $5.2 million judgment against a Mexican bus company it deemed partially responsible for the 2007 deaths of three Edinburg women, their family’s attorney said Monday.

Virginia Salinas, 28, and her 71-year-old grandmother, Irene Garza, died Nov. 10 of that year, when a truck they were riding in collided with a bus operated by Monterrey-based Autobuses Del Noreste. Salinas’ 9-year-old daughter — Veronica — was also killed in the crash.

Evidence presented during the week long trial suggested that bus driver Victor Torres overshot a stop sign outside of Los Herreras, N.L. — a community about 83 miles southwest of Reynosa — placing his vehicle out in the intersection after a sharp curve in the road.

“(The jury) had great power to bring justice to this family,” said Mark A. Cantu, who represented the family in its suit against the bus company.

An investigation by Mexican authorities conducted shortly after the wreck placed no criminal responsibility on the bus driver, who was released from custody moments after the crash, according to media reports from that country.
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18 wheeler crashes head on into Grupo Sendor tour bus outside Saltillo Coahuilla

On 03.17.09, In Mexico Today, By PMC

3-17-2009-2-13-09-pmThe U.S. embassy in Monterrey confirms eight Americans died in a deadly bus crash in north central Mexico. Five Canadians were also killed.

Another 12 U.S. citizens are in the hospital. The Coahuila state police have just released a list of those injured and the hospitals they are in.

Grupo Senda coach number 8003 was enroute to Zacatecas from McAllen Texas when a day cab tractor driven by Julio César Rodríguez López, age 23, of Saltillo, collided with the coach, killing the driver, César García Huerta, 42 and 13 others, American and Canadian tourists. 12 suffered injuries of various degrees, some requiring life flight to nearby hospitals.

Apparently, the driver of the day cab fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the centerline hitting the bus head on.

At pre dawn hours on Sunday, 25 retired teachers from Canada, the United States and Mexico, left the terminal in McAllen Texas aboard the 2009 Irizia coach owned by Grupo Senda. The final destination was to be Zacatecas.

In the first hours, Gabriel Pérez Díaz, age 37, the assistant driver was behind the wheel while César García Huerta, the senior driver slept in the sleeper compartment of the bus.

About 12:45 in the morning, the coach made a stop outside of Saltillo to give the passengers time to stretch their legs and get a bite to eat. This was also where the drivers changed positions.

Two hours later, the driver of the day cab, Julio César Rodríguez García, who worked for SMCS (Suministros Materiales Construcción y Servicio) was coming north on Hwy 57 from San Luis Potosi. destined for Monterrey, a distance of perhaps 300 miles.

Garcia apparently fell asleep at the wheel, hit the shoulder and overcorrected, causing his day cab tractor to hit the coach in the left front.

Contrary to some reports, Garcia was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. On scene drug and alcohol test results are pending. Garcia was taken into custody by Federal Highway Police where he will remain pending a Judges decision on what charges to bring if any.

Under Mexican law, when there is serious death or injury, the guilty party is held criminally liable as is his employer in most cases. If he holds a Federal Commercial License, that is revoked for life.

It might also be noted that this was a private carrier and had nothing to do with the participants in the Cross Border Demonstration Program in the US, nor is this indicative of Mexican truckers.
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Fotos courtesy of Vanguardia, El Reforma y El Diario

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Politicos seek to make political “brownie points” from weekend trifecta of bus accidents

On 08.12.08, In U.S. Trucking News, By PMC
Federal safety officials Monday ordered Iguala BusMex and Angel Tours Inc. to cease commercial operations while last week's fatal accident in North Texas is investigated.

Federal safety officials Monday ordered Iguala BusMex and Angel Tours Inc. to cease commercial operations while last week's fatal accident in North Texas is investigated.

Bill would mandate “Black Boxes” in all CMV’s

Two U.S. senators today urged tougher regulations aimed at improving bus safety in response to last week’s deadly accident that killed 17 Vietnamese Catholics from Houston.

Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, issued statements calling for the passage of their legislation, known as the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act.

The pair introduced the bill, which would require bus owners to provide seat belts, fire extinguishers and other safety enhancements, last fall after a bus crash in Georgia killed several college athletes from an Ohio college.

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Sherman Texas Bus Crash – Angel Tours Bus should not have been in operation

On 08.09.08, In U.S. Trucking News, By PMC
Crews work to move the charter bus off of U.S. Highway 75 near Sherman.

Crews work to move the charter bus off of U.S. Highway 75 near Sherman.

The violations discovered in the bus belonging to Angel Tours that crashed in Sherman Texas Friday morning points to the stupidty and ignorance of a small percentage of people obsessed with ending the Cross Border Pilot Program, which has operated safely for the past 11 months, while ignoring American common carriers who flaunt and ignore the laws and rules thinking it does not apply to them, the bus crash Friday in Sherman Texas that claimed 16 lives is a prime example.

The owner of Angel Tours, 59-year-old Angel de la Torre, should be arrested and detained WITHOUT BAIL and charged with 16 counts of NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE! The idiot bus driver also!

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Tejano Singer Emilio, sued by bandmembers over bus crash

On 06.02.08, In General, By PMC

Tejano singer Emilio coach after crashTwo band members who were passengers on the bus that crashed in March with Emilio Navaira at the wheel have sued the Tejano singing star in state court because of the injuries they suffered.

The two musicians, Daniel Sandoval and Pedro Ramirez, are asking for unspecified damages from Emilio, Inc., the singer’s corporate identity. The suit, which does not name Navaira individually, was filed last week in Houston and assigned to the district court of Judge Caroline E. Baker.

Navaira, 45, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 — more than twice the legal limit — while driving the tour bus that crashed early March 23, according to a report made public by the Bellaire Police Department. He could face charges of DWI or felony intoxication assault for injuring five passengers when the bus slammed into traffic barrels on the northbound West Loop. He also did not have the type of license required to legally drive the vehicle.

“Defendant was intoxicated well beyond the legal limit to operate a vehicle, was not licensed or properly trained, and was not properly rested to drive that night,” the lawsuit states.

Navaira and his band, Rio, had performed at a Houston club hours before the crash and were returning to San Antonio when the accident occurred on West Loop 610.

Navaira, who is still recovering from a life-threatening head injury suffered in the crash, has twice been arrested for driving while intoxicated After the second arrest, he signed an affidavit saying he did not own an automobile. That spared him from having to equip his vehicle with an ignition interlock, an alcohol-detection device into which a person must breathe before starting his car, and a standard condition of bond when facing a second DWI charge.

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