15 Killed in Tour Bus Accident in New York City, NY

According to recent news reports from New York City, New York, 15 passengers on a World Wide Travel tour bus have died as a result of a fatal accident that happened on Saturday, March 12 at 5:35 a.m. on I-95. 31 passengers were on board the bus that was returning from the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut; some were asleep at the time of the wreck. The driver of the tour bus reported that he lost control of the bus while swerving to avoid an 18-wheeler. The bus scraped a guardrail for approximately 300 feet before turning onto its side. It then struck a support pole of an exit sign for Hutchinson Pkwy. The pole sheared the roof off of the bus from the front of the bus to the back. 20 passengers suffered injury and were treated at local hospitals. Seven people were listed in critical condition. 15 were taken to Jacobi Medical Center. Five were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, and two of those passengers were placed on life support. The passengers on the bus were reported to have been between 20 and 50 years of age and mostly from Chinatown. It was reported that both the tour bus and the semi-truck were traveling at a high speed. The National Transportation Safety Board will be conducting an investigation.

UPDATE: The names of the victims of the fatal bus crash have been released. They are: Miguel Aquino (55), Kam Ming Eng (81), Yuk Chun Eng, Jose Garcia, Bing Fong Lee, Don Lee (76), Biqin Mei, Ninh Tran, Jian Hua Wang (40), May Ling Wong, Ock Thling Wong (83), Yang. T. Xian, and Michael Yeh (65).

Further news reports following the developments of this tragic bus wreck have relayed that the bus driver's log book was incomplete for several days prior to the accident and that the bus driver, Ophadell Williams, likely should not have even been driving the bus due to suspended driving privileges stemming from tickets he ignored for driving without a license and speeding in 1995. The severity of the bus accident and the bus driver's background has resulted in New York governor Andrew Cuomo asking the state inspector general to look into how the bus driver as able to receive and retain a commercial driver's license. Williams' background includes two years spent in prison for a 1990 manslaughter conviction and four more years in prison for grand larceny.

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In the aftermath of such an immense accident, many people will likely want to know the answer to one question: What went wrong? Unfortunately, the answer to such a question may be many months in coming after a thorough investigation has been conducted into the accident site. There may have been a number of issues at play in such an accident, from the alleged negligent driving of a truck driver to the issue of high speeds said to have been reached by both the truck driver and the bus driver. Other issues not initially reported on may have also played a role in this tragic bus wreck (like the information contained in the update regarding possible negligent hiring practices on behalf of the bus company in regards to background checks conducted on their bus drivers). In instances where negligent behavior by any involved party is suspected of having been a contributing factor, an independent investigation may be pursued that can look into such issues so that all liable parties can be discovered and held accountable for their negligent actions leading to such devastation.

- Texas Bus Accident Attorney Michael Grossman