On June 4th 2008, twenty five passengers were injured when a greyhound bus tipped over while transporting forty two passengers. While the driver was not injured from the accident, twenty five of the passengers were injured as a result of the accident. Several eye witnesses state, the bus driver of the greyhound was driving north on I-65 when the bus accident occurred.
The description of the bus accident is frightening as it is described by witnesses and passengers, the bus is said to have landed on the right side with the wheels facing the concrete barriers in the I-65 median.
With grey hound and many other bus companies, the driver is supposed to be limited to a 10 hour driving limit, but that is not the only precaution that should be made, in addition there should be routine medical evaluations and random drug testing to adequately ensure the public’s safety as well.
Driver fatigue has been blamed for many bus accidents since the June 4th 2008 incident such as the August 13th 2011, incident where the bus driver of a gray hound bus lost control of the bus as he was in route to St. Louis, the bus landed on its side on the interstate. This bus accident caused a total of fourteen people to be transported to area hospitals, and one passenger was trapped inside the bus, requiring assistance from rescue crews.
Driver fatigue blamed on another incident in February 2012, in Los Angeles California, this accident involved a MTA bus, the bus crashed into a bus stop, the bus driver was the only one injured and she was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, there was other damage related to signs and a light pole involved in this accident, fortunately there were no passengers on the bus at the time of the accident.
Whether the accident is one that involves multiple passenger injuries or only one driver the results can be deadly, if a bus driver falls asleep at the wheel there are a number of issues that must be addressed, the first being why? A simple why are they allowed to drive, when they can’t stay awake at the wheel and with countless lives that can be lost over the negligence of the driver as well as the company that employees the driver.
Public safety should include bus drivers that are awake at the wheel when driving any form of public transportation.