North Carolina Injury Attorney Blog

Imagine a city bus full of passengers heading down a busy city street. The bus driver slumps over in his seat. The bus blows through a red light and T-bones a car, sending it spinning around in the street. Just like in the movies, the bus keeps crashing into cars and taxis as it careens through intersections. This scenario happened in New York City last night. The driver lost consciousness while going north on Madison Avenue near East 81st at around 7:05 p.m.

A frightened but quick thinking passenger, Guy Praisler, rushed to the front of the bus, jerked at the driver and grabbed the wheel. The driver then woke-up and hit the brakes.

Really?? Now the bus driver claims to have fainted. As someone who has investigated dozens of bus and truck crashes, this sounds like a classic case of a fatigued bus driver falling asleep behind the wheel. The statistics would certainly indicate that fatigue is the most likely cause of this crash.

Continue reading "Bus Crash Last Night - Did Driver Fall Asleep?" »

Yesterday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered 26 bus operators to stop transporting passengers. The bus companies carry passengers on Interstate 95 between New York and Florida.

The federal agency closed the bus companies for what it termed an "imminent hazard" due to continuous safety violations. The violations that were discovered included using bus drivers who did not have commercial driver's licenses and who had failed drug and alcohol tests.

Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood described the action as the largest single shutdown in the agency's history.

Continue reading "The Feds Shut Down Buses On I-95 Through North Carolina" »