Bus accident victims seek justice against crazed, speeding driver

Victims of a June 6th bus accident moved quickly to seek justice and recently filed a lawsuit against both the bus company and the driver. About two dozen people were hurt in the bus accident, which the victims say was caused by “crazed” driving.

Although federal law prohibits commercial drivers from driving for more than 11 consecutive hours without a break to sleep, the driver in this accident was planning at 16 hour haul. He allegedly drank large quantities of energy drinks before the first 8 hour stretch in which he would be transporting 34 children and 20 adults.

Only minutes into the drive, the driver was unable to properly turn the bus and it ran off of the road and tipped over onto its side. The lawsuit says that the driver was going at least 68 miles per hour at the time of the crash.

Violating federal safety law is generally considered negligent behavior. In this case the driver had planned to break the law but had not at the time of the accident, so that may have an impact of the victim’s claim. However, if the man was indeed driving erratically and consuming unsafe quantities of stimulants, that may be enough to prove that he was acting negligently or recklessly at the time of the accident.

According to the lawsuit, the adults on the bus asked the driver to slow down repeatedly but he refused to. Passengers on the bus as well as witnesses on the road called 911 to report the apparently reckless behavior.

Source: Insurance Journal “Lawsuit Claims Driver in Kentucky Tour Bus Crash ‘Crazed,’ Speeding,” June 20, 2012.