Broken Drive Shaft Believed to Cause Bus Wreck Near San Antonio Kills 2 and Injures At Least 40 Others | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Following the deadly crash of the Americanos USA bus crash south of San Antonio which killed Christina Lozano Campos, (62) of Lewisville, Texas and Efrain Cominquez-Valenzuela of Brownsville, Texas and which injured at least 40 others, investigators are indicating that the drive shaft to the bus may have broken and caused the deadly crash.

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.

UPDATE:

Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said that although findings were preliminary, and that the investigation was ongoing, the early investigation is revealing that a broken drive shaft likely caused the Americanos USA bus headed to Mexico from San Antonio veer wildly on a Texas highway before flipping over, killing two passengers and injuring at least 40 others on board.

The drive shaft transfers power from the engine to the wheels of the bus. The drive shaft is believed to have fallen off before the Americanos USA bus careened from the right lane toward the median and spun wildly. Bus drive shafts rarely break and completely fall off, said Joe Pemberton, whose Glendale, Ariz.-based company, Motorcoach Training & Development Inc., trains and certifies bus mechanics. Newer buses are equipped with a safety strap designed to catch a broken shaft so that it doesn’t completely destabilize the bus. But such devices can fail, and if one does, the shaft can snag on the pavement and turn the bus over, Pemberton said. If the drive shaft breaks and falls off and snags the pavement, “It would act like a pole vaulter,” Pemberton said. There is no indication yet as to whether this bus had the safety strap, or if so, what the condition of that strap was.

Most bus companies inspect the drive shaft about every 10,000 miles as part of maintenance, Pemberton said. According to Bonnie Bastian, a spokeswoman for FirstGroup America, the parent company of Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc., the bus underwent its regularly scheduled maintenance the day before the crash.

With these developments, the focus of the investigation will probably begin to shift to look at the thoroughness of the maintenance work the company does in general on all of its buses as well as the maintenance history of this particular truck.

The obligations bus companies such Americanos USA and Greyhound Bus lines have to their customers includes the obligations to conduct thorough maintenance inspections and to repair or to replace those parts of the vehicle which need to be repaired, particularly when such issues could reasonably affect the safety of passengers on the bus. Certainly, this obligation would include the obligation to have safety straps installed on the drive shaft and to regularly inspect and to maintain those straps so that they can do what they are intended to do in the event a drive shaft fails.

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 at Montes Law Group, PC, (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. Visit our website at www.MontesLawGroup.com for more information about our firm.

100 Comments

  1. Dusty Slusher on May 29, 2012 at 9:03 am

    You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be actually something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

    • Sydney Bunyard on June 14, 2012 at 2:56 am

      Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! However, how could we communicate?

    • Imogene Zabinski on June 19, 2012 at 11:35 pm

      Good write-up!

    • Anna Hayburn on June 21, 2012 at 9:28 pm

      I am extremely impressed together with your writing skills and also with the layout to your weblog. Anyway stay up the excellent quality writing, it’s uncommon to find a nice blog like this one these days..

    • Esther Bennis on June 22, 2012 at 7:57 am

      I like what you guys are up too. Such intelligent work and reporting! Carry on the excellent works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my site :).

    • Bryon Vierthaler on June 22, 2012 at 11:45 am

      I believe you have mentioned some very interesting details , appreciate it for the post.

    • Elijah Oberfell on June 22, 2012 at 3:12 pm

      Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him :] So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!

    • Kasey Leberte on June 26, 2012 at 7:25 am

      You definitely know how to bring a problem to light and make it important.

    • Jae Nauyen on June 26, 2012 at 3:48 pm

      I came across this board and I found It truly useful

    • Tawanda Cretsinger on June 27, 2012 at 6:27 am

      Interesting, very interesting

    • Lyman Higley on June 27, 2012 at 1:22 pm

      I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this web site. Thanks, I will try and check back more frequently.

    • Winfred Wigg on June 27, 2012 at 11:38 pm

      appreciate the post.

    • Courtney Robertson on June 28, 2012 at 2:00 am

      Thankyou for this tragic yet marvelous post, I am glad I discovered this site on yahoo.

    • Domenic Grimaud on June 28, 2012 at 5:04 am

      I have not checked here for a while, but I must say, great quality! 🙂

    • Scott Depoyster on June 28, 2012 at 7:08 am

      I do like the way you have presented this specific concern plus it really does present me a lot of fodder for consideration. However, from everything that I have experienced, I basically trust as other commentary pack on that individuals continue to be on point and don’t embark upon a soap box associated with some other news of the day. Anyway, thank you for this fantastic piece and while I can not concur with this in totality, I value the point of view.

    • Ivory Valen on June 28, 2012 at 1:06 pm

      🙁 Thanks for this article… very interesting

    • Carol Dykhoff on June 28, 2012 at 11:30 pm

      I can’t believe it! 🙁

    • Lynn Hallinger on June 29, 2012 at 10:04 am

      I will recommend this site!

    • Hamlin on July 3, 2012 at 5:38 pm

      man…

    • Tracie Mastrolia on July 3, 2012 at 5:51 pm

      Great website.. if you are writing at other online sites, I would like to keep up with you.

    • Marietta Isadore on July 3, 2012 at 5:52 pm

      Excellent web site. Plenty of helpful information here. I am sending it to some pals ans also sharing in delicious. And naturally, thank you to your sweat!

  2. Sherman Harmen on May 29, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog. A great read. I will certainly be back.

    • Sierra on May 29, 2012 at 7:39 pm

      Great suggestion! Thank you!

      • Jed Santarpia on June 14, 2012 at 11:24 am

        Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite justification seemed to be on the net the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get irked while people consider worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks

      • Meek on June 19, 2012 at 5:36 am

        But a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great layout.

      • Chanel Iacobelli on June 19, 2012 at 11:35 pm

        Simply wanna remark that you have a very nice site, I enjoy the layout it really stands out.

      • Roslyn Portela on June 21, 2012 at 6:06 pm

        You have brought up very superb points, regards for the post.

      • Roxanne Stole on June 22, 2012 at 7:14 am

        Very interesting topic , regards for posting.

      • Jamal Fendler on June 22, 2012 at 11:03 am

        Just a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great design .

      • Tangerine Dream on June 22, 2012 at 12:34 pm

        I like this weblog very much, Its a really nice way to incur information.

      • Krystin Grindeland on June 22, 2012 at 2:32 pm

        hello there! thank you for your info

      • Kurtis Brett on June 22, 2012 at 6:21 pm

        This is what I was looking for! wonderful! Thank you!

      • Jan Begum on June 25, 2012 at 10:35 pm

        Awsome article and straight to the point.

      • Iva Sinibaldi on June 26, 2012 at 5:08 pm

        Merely wanna state that this is extremely helpful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.

      • Naruto Manga on June 26, 2012 at 5:45 pm

        I like this website very much, but this is sad though

      • Forrest Neild on June 26, 2012 at 10:15 pm

        Hi, I do believe this is an excellent web site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I may revisit once again since I book marked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide other people.

      • William Cloutier on June 27, 2012 at 12:09 am

        I seriously love your blog.. Great colors & theme.

      • Zora Vant on June 27, 2012 at 1:32 am

        Hi there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative.

      • Bob Condrey on June 27, 2012 at 6:10 am

        you just gained a new reader

      • Andrew A. Sailer on June 27, 2012 at 6:42 am

        We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with valuable information to work on. You have done an impressive job and our entire community will be grateful to you.

      • Les Quealy on June 27, 2012 at 8:07 am

        interesting! ps nice web site.

      • Dorine Zubizarreta on June 27, 2012 at 10:21 am

        Good post right here.

      • Marcel Plake on June 27, 2012 at 10:55 pm

        Wow! This could be one particular of the most helpful blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Magnificent. I’m also a specialist in this topic so I can understand your hard work.

      • euro 2012 live stream on June 28, 2012 at 6:46 am

        Respect to website author , some good information . “If you don’t leap, you’ll never know what it’s like to fly.” by Guy Finley.

      • Lue Coval on June 28, 2012 at 12:28 pm

        That’s just terrible

      • Konsultan manajemen rumah sakit on June 28, 2012 at 5:08 pm

        Keep up the wonderful work , I read some content on this web site and I think that your weblog is rattling interesting and has got lots of fantastic info .

      • cd kopyalama on June 28, 2012 at 7:04 pm

        I really like your writing style, excellent info , thanks for putting up : D.

      • Ellie Goulding on July 3, 2012 at 1:42 am

        very informative thank you kindly for posting

      • Leota Perla on July 3, 2012 at 3:59 am

        Hey, rough topic, but you write fantastic

      • Trudy Quay on July 3, 2012 at 6:38 am

        Thank you for the sensible info

      • Everett Bischel on July 3, 2012 at 2:52 pm

        You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will consent with your blog.

    • Aaron Copland on June 19, 2012 at 12:39 pm

      I got what you mean , regards for posting .Woh I am happy to find this website through google. “Since the Exodus, freedom has always spoken with a Hebrew accent.” by Heinrich Heine.

    • Cary Pacheco on June 19, 2012 at 11:35 pm

      I like this post, enjoyed this one thanks for putting up. so sad though

    • Rueben Bavard on June 21, 2012 at 6:44 pm

      Thanks for your blog post.

    • Kimberli Stegmann on June 22, 2012 at 7:09 am

      I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back down the road. Many thanks

    • Erica Mcilroy on June 22, 2012 at 10:57 am

      Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website? My website is in the exact same niche as yours and my users would truly benefit from some of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Thanks a lot!

      • Sierra on June 22, 2012 at 6:17 pm

        As long as you provide credit and sources, you are more than welcome to quote. Thank you for asking!

    • Delphia Gibbings on June 22, 2012 at 2:28 pm

      I have been browsing online more than three hours today, but I by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours. In my view, if all site owners and bloggers made just right content as you probably did, the net shall be much more helpful than ever before.

    • Carlyn Robusto on June 22, 2012 at 6:16 pm

      Your stuff is excellent.

    • Naruto Spoilers on June 26, 2012 at 5:50 pm

      I really appreciate this post.

    • Chery Bonifacio on June 26, 2012 at 8:21 pm

      I absolutely love your site.. Appreciate it!

    • Myrtis Crumby on June 27, 2012 at 12:52 am

      Lots of folks can be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!

    • Isreal Aldava on June 27, 2012 at 1:36 pm

      Hi there, I found your web site by means of Google while searching for a related subject, your web site came up, it appears to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

    • Jorge Wikert on June 27, 2012 at 11:01 pm

      I believe this site has some rattling great info for everyone. “The fewer the words, the better the prayer.” by Martin Luther.

    • Gerda Spillmann on June 28, 2012 at 4:20 pm

      so sad.. Fantastic blog tho

    • service excellence on June 28, 2012 at 5:14 pm

      Great post, I believe blog owners will get a lot from this web blog.. really user friendly. So much fantastic info on here :D.

    • cd kopyalama on June 28, 2012 at 6:44 pm

      I have recently started a blog, the info you provide on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time and work.

    • Mary Odair on June 29, 2012 at 4:56 pm

      Incredible and terrible

    • Garfield Alonzo on July 2, 2012 at 10:05 pm

      Pleasant job, keep it up

    • Francisco Gilbertson on July 2, 2012 at 11:37 pm

      Good blog you have here.. It’s hard to find high quality

  3. Josphine Kapoor on June 15, 2012 at 12:10 pm

    Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a very well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will definitely return.

  4. Donny Mcree on June 21, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! However, how could we communicate?

  5. Nicky Glatz on June 22, 2012 at 4:26 am

    Wow! This could be one of the most beneficial blogs I’ve ever read. I am also a specialist in this topic so I can understand your effort.

  6. Natalie Bixler on June 22, 2012 at 5:58 am

    hello!,I really like your writing so much!

  7. Samara Jean on June 22, 2012 at 9:46 am

    Only wanna admit that this is handy , Thanks for taking your time to write this.

  8. Otilia Branscum on June 22, 2012 at 1:15 pm

    I was suggested this web site by my cousin. quite amazing! Thanks!

  9. Sarai Frabizzio on June 22, 2012 at 5:06 pm

    I gotta favorite this website!

  10. Qiana Stengele on June 25, 2012 at 11:09 pm

    You have mentioned very interesting points ! ps nice web site .

  11. Aaron Schnarr on June 25, 2012 at 11:44 pm

    Very sad post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I have truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.

  12. Ernesto Grillo on June 26, 2012 at 5:24 am

    Many thanks for this blog

  13. Cherilyn Dorer on June 26, 2012 at 7:52 am

    Hey! Fantastic blog

  14. Beulah Sjodin on June 26, 2012 at 10:17 am

    Very interesting topic , thankyou for putting up.

  15. Roseline Ringquist on June 26, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    Saaaaaaaaaad 🙁

  16. Bernadine Wu on June 26, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Love the blog. Have a nice day. Bye

  17. Mario Sangasy on June 27, 2012 at 1:08 am

    thankyou for putting up. “It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” by David Hume.

  18. Ferne Mcoy on June 27, 2012 at 3:44 am

    It’s a shame this happened….

  19. Sidney Hutchen on June 27, 2012 at 4:17 am

    I just stumbled upon your web site

  20. Terra Sherle on June 27, 2012 at 4:32 am

    yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a hard decision

  21. Luigi Fulk on June 27, 2012 at 6:42 am

    WONDERFUL Post.thanks for sharing.. so sad though

  22. Frankie Piatz on June 27, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    great style and design

  23. Quinton Canes on June 27, 2012 at 11:35 pm

    My brother suggested I might like this web site. He was entirely right. Thanks!

  24. Joselyn Natvig on June 28, 2012 at 6:43 am

    You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and very broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

  25. Jennifer Zubrzycki on June 28, 2012 at 8:48 am

    In San Antonio?? MAN!

  26. Milo Stobie on June 28, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    Will be back later to read some more.

  27. Gerda Spillmann on June 28, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    Very interesting points

  28. Vannessa Celestin on June 28, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    Definitely believe that that you stated here

  29. Danette Obyrne on June 29, 2012 at 10:51 am

    This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You know so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!

  30. Jarod Chestang on July 3, 2012 at 7:24 am

    Sad wow… Your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. I like it

  31. Baxter on July 3, 2012 at 8:33 am

    Yikes the world is a dangerous place

  32. Allegra Dozois on July 3, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clearly from this post. I’m very glad to see such fantastic information being shared freely out there.

Leave a Comment