Three days after a terrible Boston bus crash on Soldiers Field left 35 people with injuries, police have not yet announced whether or not citations or criminal charges will be filed. The Calvary Coach had been transporting high school students and their chaperones from the Destined for a Dream Foundation back home after a tour of Harvard University.
The Massachusetts traffic crash occurred when the bus drove into the Western Avenue Bridge. According to the Boston Globe, there used to be huge rubber signs on that roadway warning that low bridges were coming but that they have since faded. The Western Avenue Bridge, which should have gotten one of the warning signs, reportedly never did.
The height limit on Soldiers Field Road is 10 feet. Commercial vehicles, including buses, are not supposed to drive there. There are also questions as to whether or not Samuel Jackson, the 66-year-old bus driver, was distracted from looking at a GPS device.
If you or someone in your family got hurt in a Massachusetts bus accident you will want to speak with a with a Boston injury law firm right away. Bus crash cases are not like other motor vehicle crash lawsuits and the legal representation that you choose needs to understand this. Possible liable parties may include a county, city, or another government entity that owns the bus, a private company owner, the party that hired the bus, the manufacturer of a defective bus, the entity in charge with maintaining the road where the collision happened, and others. Bus operators are tasked with a greater responsibility of care than regular drivers.
This Boston bus accident happened just one day before another horrible bus collision, this one in California on Sunday. Seven people died at the scene when the driver lost control of the tour bus, striking a sedan and then later a pickup truck. At least 42 were injured-some severely so. The impact of the collision was so bad that the top of the bus experienced partial roof crush while being torn open in another area.
Federal investigators are trying to determine exactly what happened. Faulty brakes are a possible culprit. The operator of the bus, Scapadas Magicas, has been previously cited for violations, including brake problems.
Death toll expected to rise in California tour bus crash, CNN, February 4, 2013
Bus Driver May Have Been Distracted By GPS Before Soldiers Field Road Crash, Boston, February 4, 2013
Bridge at site of crash lacked height warning, The Boston Globe, February 5, 2013
Cause Sought in Bus Crash That Killed 7 in California, NY Times, February 4, 2013
More Blog Posts:
MBTA Bus Collides with Bicyclist in Salem, MA, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 9, 2012
MA Judge Allows Lawsuit to Move Forward on Gillette Stadium Fatal Crash, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, December 14, 2012
Car Runs Stop Sign and Crashes into MBTA Bus in Dedham, Boston Car Accident Lawyers Blog, April 14, 2011