Catastrophic Injury and Wrongful Death Lawyer Thinks That the Van Nuys Bus Company Involved in a Fatal Arizona Bus Crash Ought to be Charged With Homicide
As an experienced commercial carrier and bus accident lawyer who has been successfully prosecuting claims since 1979, a recent Arizona bus crash that killed 6 and injured 16 is offensively shocking to the conscience due to the fact that investigation reveals that the company had skirted government regulations and amassed a poor safety record and was operating off the books. According to investigative sources, the company never had Federal authorization required to transport passengers over state lines. The company skillfully skirted regulations designed to insure that bus companies adequately maintained vehicles as well as test drivers for drug and alcohol abuse. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said “It is absolutely essential that unsafe common carriers like this be taken off the road.”
Federal officials and court documents suggest that the owners of the bus knew that they were conducting business without federal operating authority due to the fact that the company applied for official authorization in April 2009 but never replied to a request for more information. As a result, the government denied the application and sent a certified letter to the bus operators informing them in bold face print that they were not authorized to engage in interstate transportation of passengers by commercial motorized vehicles. The operators of this bus, according to sources, have shown a persistent determination to continue operating under new entities and they have been repeatedly rebuked by transportation officials in their attempts to skirt the law and regulations.
In August 2009, the bus was declared “out of service” after inspectors determined serious maintenance issues and faulty emergency exits, as well as a checkered history of maintaining insurance coverage. This accident represents a senseless loss of life and calls attention to the need to enforce common carriers and bus companies with strict regulations that have teeth in them.
In this experienced catastrophic injury attorney’s opinion, this event is tantamount to vehicular homicide and I feel that all of the operators and parties should be charged accordingly.
