Bus Accidents

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Christina Lozano Campos, (62) of Lewisville, Texas and Efrain Cominquez-Valenzuela of Brownsville, Texas both died at the scene of a bus wreck Tuesday morning on Interstate 37 in south Texas near the towns of LaSoya and Buena Vista, just 45 miles south of San Antonio. The passengers were on board a Americanos USA tour bus which departed San Antonio Tuesday, and was headed to the Mexican border city of Matamoros, with planned stops in Falfurrias and McAllen, Texas.

The bus had been on the interstate about an hour when the passengers heard a loud noise and felt the bus flip around before toppling on its side in a grassy median on Interstate 37. “I think we did a 180. We flipped and I was out the window,” said Daryl Champagne, a 17-year-old San Antonio high school senior who was on his way to South Padre Island with two classmates on spring break.

DPS Trooper Jason Reyes said the cause of the accident remained under investigation, but there was no initial indication the driver, 47-year-old Irma Morado, was impaired. Investigators suspect equipment failure may have caused the crash, said DPS spokesman Tom Vinger, though officials said the tires appeared intact.

Americanos USA, is a subsidiary of Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc. Before this crash, the company’s vehicles were reportedly involved in 10 accidents in three states in the last 30 months, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records. Tuesday’s crash was the company’s fifth involving injuries and second involving fatalities. One person died in a January 2009 crash in San Diego involving one of its vehicles.

Americanos USA has 137 motor coaches in service. Americanos has been involved in one accident for every 13 buses. By comparison, Greyhound has been involved in one accident for every eight buses. Bonnie Bastian, a spokeswoman for Greyhound’s parent company, FirstGroup America, said the company is assisting with the investigation.

As is typical in bus accidents, because bus companies do not insist on having seatbelts installed, passengers in this wreck were thrown about the bus as it tumbled. The NTSB has long advocated that motor coaches include seat belts and other occupational safety devices, but the recommendations have yet to be turned into law, in part because of strong lobbying by bus companies.

In this crash, some of the passengers reportedly landed on broken glass and on top of each other while bus windows shattered and loose luggage was scattered about the passenger compartment. Police are reporting that 40 people on the bus were taken to San Antonio-area hospitals. At least one of the passengers was in critical condition today, while others were stable or had been discharged.

One of the passengers on board, Karlo Castilleja (18), said he was pinned in the bus with three people on top of him and his face in the dirt, and couldn’t breathe while he was pinned under the debris and people on top of him. Other passengers, such as Jacob Medina (18) indicated they felt lucky to be alive.

In Texas, bus companies such Americanos USA and Greyhound Bus lines are referred to as common carriers because they transport passengers for a fee. As a result, the law imposes a legal obligation upon these bus companies to act with a high degree of care to protect the safety of their passengers. However, bus companies are famous for cutting corners on maintenance issues that have led to tragic accidents. Considering the statements of the police following this crash, it appears that the investigation of this wreck is going to focus on determining what equipment may have failed and the maintenance records regarding the bus. The first place investigators tend to start is by looking at the tires, and brake systems. Then, an investigation will usually turn to looking at the actions and qualifications and training of the driver. Following a collision such as this, the bus driver will be required to give a blood sample to test for the presence of any drugs or alcohol. In addition, an investigation will need to be conducted to determine how long this driver has been on duty, how much driving the bus driver had done recently, whether the driver was fatigued, and whether the driver was competent and properly trained.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a bus accident, we recommend that you hire an attorney to represent you. The bus company will take action to protect its interests including immediately hiring lawyers and investigators. You need someone who is trained and experienced in dealing with these cases that will fight for your rights. We are experienced in thorough investigation of many accident types, and our lawyers can call on specialized resources to determine whether negligence caused your bus crash.

Contact Rachel Montes or Tom Herald at Montes Herald Law Group, LLP, (214) 522-9401 for counsel after any type of bus or other mass transit accident. Particularly because Greyhound has its principal office in Dallas, these cases tend to end up being handled out of the Dallas area regardless of where the wreck actually occurred. Our firm is located in Las Colinas (Irving), Texas, and we have handled other bus accident cases, including cases against Greyhound all across Texas and the United States. We are well equipped to pursue compensation in these cases.. If you communicate best in Spanish, or have other specific needs, just let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.