On Friday, March 5, 2010, a bus carrying passengers from Mexico to Los Angeles was involved in a rollover accident in Arizona killing 6 passengers and injuring 16 others. Initial reports indicate that the bus was operated by Tierra Santa, Inc. based out of Mexico. Before getting into the wreck, the bus had traveled through Texas and its final destination was Los Angeles. While in Arizona the bus struck a pickup truck and then rolled over. Initial investigation seems to suggest that driver error may have been involved in starting the wreck sequence.
It is common for bus operators based in Mexico to run routes from Mexico to major cities inside the United States. In January of 2008, a bus carrying passengers from Mexico to Houston rolled over in Victoria, Texas. Our firm represents 24 from that lawsuit. The firm has also been involved in the Hurricane Rita evacuation bus fire from 2005. In addition to driver error, lack of adequate window strength and seatbelts compound the injuries suffered by occupants in these type of vehicle accidents. Our investigation into other bus crashes in the past has also revealed that some of these buses do not even meet the minimum Federal standards required to operate buses in the United States.