The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a preliminary report as to what they believe went wrong in the now triple-fatal bus crash in the Dallas area: driver error. There was no alcohol or drugs detected in the driver’s system after the crash, but investigators have cited the driver’s failure to maintain control of the bus and inattention as the reason for the fatal bus crash.
The 65-year-old driver says he may have blacked out in the moments just before the bus crashed and rolled on the George Bush Turnpike. The Cardinal Coach Line bus involved in the crash was found to have no defects that could have contributed to the crash.
The Dallas bus crash claimed a third victim on Sunday. The woman had suffered serious injuries in the crash, including a crushed sternum and several broken bones. She had already lost an arm to amputation because of the crash.
This is not the first fatal crash for the driver of the Cardinal Coach Line bus that was headed to Oklahoma, carrying passengers to a casino trip. In 1998, the driver had struck a man who was attempting to help someone in the roadway. The driver was working for Central West Motor Stages, Inc., when he fatally injured the good Samaritan.
No criminal charges were pressed against the driver in that crash. The family of the victim sued in civil court, but the jury found the good Samaritan to be mostly at fault, eliminating any money damages award to the surviving family. Faulty brakes also played a role in that fatal bus crash.
Source: ABC News, “Report: Bus Driver Says He May Have Blacked Out,” April 22, 2013