Date: 07/17/2008 06:18 PM
PANGUITCH, Utah (AP) _ A tour bus went off a state highway near Bryce Canyon National Park, landing upside down in a creek bed and catching fire.
The Utah Highway Patrol says several of the 47 New Jersey teenagers aboard the bus were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The bus also was carrying a half-dozen chaperones from Laine, N.J.
Highway Patrol spokesman Cameron Roden says the teenagers were injured from the rollover, not the small fire that broke out on the bus.
The bus was headed through Red Canyon, a gateway to the national park, when it went off the road Thursday.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Court finds Mitsubishi, 3 former execs guilty
Date: 07/15/2008 12:06 AM
By SHINO YUASA
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO (AP) _ A Japanese court on Tuesday found Mitsubishi Motors and three former executives guilty of falsifying a report to the government in a fatal accident suspected of being linked to a wheel defect.
The Tokyo High Court threw out a lower court decision in December 2006 that acquitted the three people, including Takashi Usami, former chairman of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., the automaker’s truck division at that time.
At the center of the trial was whether the executives tried to hide a wheel defect suspected of being linked to the February 2002 accident. Shiho Okamoto, 29, was killed when a wheel rolled off a Mitsubishi truck and crushed her. Her two children were also injured in the accident.
A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing court policy, said the higher court rejected the December 2006 decision by the Yokohama Summary Court that acquitted the three and the company.
Tuesday’s ruling slapped a 200,000 yen ($1,900) fine on each defendant, the maximum penalty for the charge under Japanese law.
Mitsubishi Motors said it accepted the ruling.
“We will do our utmost to regain consumer trust,” the Tokyo-based automaker said in a statement. The former executives did not immediately comment on the ruling.
Mitsubishi Motors stock dropped in morning trading Tuesday to 182 yen ($1.7), down 1.1 percent.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By SHINO YUASA
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO (AP) _ A Japanese court on Tuesday found Mitsubishi Motors and three former executives guilty of falsifying a report to the government in a fatal accident suspected of being linked to a wheel defect.
The Tokyo High Court threw out a lower court decision in December 2006 that acquitted the three people, including Takashi Usami, former chairman of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., the automaker’s truck division at that time.
At the center of the trial was whether the executives tried to hide a wheel defect suspected of being linked to the February 2002 accident. Shiho Okamoto, 29, was killed when a wheel rolled off a Mitsubishi truck and crushed her. Her two children were also injured in the accident.
A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing court policy, said the higher court rejected the December 2006 decision by the Yokohama Summary Court that acquitted the three and the company.
Tuesday’s ruling slapped a 200,000 yen ($1,900) fine on each defendant, the maximum penalty for the charge under Japanese law.
Mitsubishi Motors said it accepted the ruling.
“We will do our utmost to regain consumer trust,” the Tokyo-based automaker said in a statement. The former executives did not immediately comment on the ruling.
Mitsubishi Motors stock dropped in morning trading Tuesday to 182 yen ($1.7), down 1.1 percent.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Northern Kentucky School Bus Fatality
It is a bad week for Kentucky truck drivers and school buses. Wednesday a semi-truck driven by a Kentucky man slammed into the back of a school bus in Waldo, Ohio, sending three children and the bus driver to the hospital. Thursday, a 16-year-old was killed near Williamstown, Kentucky when the school bus he was riding in had a collision with a dump truck. For the story from the Lexington Herald Leader on the Ohio crash, click here.
In the Kentucky crash, the dump truck crossed the centerline and struck the bus in the rear of the driver’s side. Speed is a potential factor in the Kentucky accident. The dump truck was hauling rock from the Butler Rock Quarry in Granite County, Kentucky. The driver, Fransico Youlfo of Grant County, drives for XXL Trucking, Inc., which is based in West Liberty, Ky. For the story from Northern Kentucky Enquirer on the Kentucky crash, click here.
See also the MSNBC TV report on the crash.
Yellow means caution. Sadly, that cautionary warning wasn’t enough for either of these Kentucky truck drivers. But we believe that to protect the children and other passengers on buses, more than just the color of the vehicle has to scream safety. Saving lives requires more than yellow paint.
Ten children were injured in the Kentucky accident. How many of these injuries could have been avoided if the bus had been equipped with the same safety features that are required on automobiles – air bags and seatbelts?
In the Kentucky crash, the dump truck crossed the centerline and struck the bus in the rear of the driver’s side. Speed is a potential factor in the Kentucky accident. The dump truck was hauling rock from the Butler Rock Quarry in Granite County, Kentucky. The driver, Fransico Youlfo of Grant County, drives for XXL Trucking, Inc., which is based in West Liberty, Ky. For the story from Northern Kentucky Enquirer on the Kentucky crash, click here.
See also the MSNBC TV report on the crash.
Yellow means caution. Sadly, that cautionary warning wasn’t enough for either of these Kentucky truck drivers. But we believe that to protect the children and other passengers on buses, more than just the color of the vehicle has to scream safety. Saving lives requires more than yellow paint.
Ten children were injured in the Kentucky accident. How many of these injuries could have been avoided if the bus had been equipped with the same safety features that are required on automobiles – air bags and seatbelts?