Federal authorities need to do a better job of regulating and screening bus operators, as evidenced by a recent bus crash in Arizona that killed six people and hurt 17 others. The bus’s owner had a long history of safety problems, and didn’t even have federal approval to transport passengers over state lines.
Officials didn’t waste much time getting the bus operator closed down shortly after the Arizona crash. In response to an emergency request, a federal judge this weekend ordered a bus company to cease interstate operations after one of its buses crashed Friday near Phoenix, killing six people and injuring 17 others. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bus8-2010mar08,0,7734207.story
In Los Angeles U.S. District Court Judge George King issued the order Saturday against the bus company, Tierra Santa Inc. of Van Nuys, Calif., and its owner, Cayetano Martinez. http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-37/1267995020155570.xml&storylist=new_topstories
The fatal bus crash is under investigation, but authorities wanted Tierra Santa shut down immediately. Martinez was operating his bus company illegally, and didn’t have federal authority for his vehicles to cross state lines.
“It is absolutely essential that unsafe carriers like this one be taken off the road,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in prepared statement Sunday. “Safety is our No. 1 priority at the Department of Transportation and we will not rest until this accident has been fully investigated.” http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/03/07/20100307busaccident-folo0307.html
As The Los Angeles Times succinctly put it, Tierra Santa “had skirted government regulations, amassed a poor safety record and was operating off the books.”
The bus has been traveling from central Mexico to California when it rear-ended a pickup truck on Interstate 10 some 30 miles south of Phoenix and rolled off the road. The six people who perished still haven’t all been identified.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
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