Last month, a post on this blog touched upon an unfortunate tour bus crash involving Connecticut casino visitors that occurred back in March 2011. As a result of that incident, which injured fifteen passengers, authorities cracked down on bus operations in the area to ensure safety standards were at their peak. The efforts seemed fruitless recently when another tour bus accident occurred in a similar fashion on July 4, resulting in the hospitalization of 24 individuals.
The bus accident occurred just outside of New York City. The tour bus was traveling from Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut at the time. Authorities speculate that the driver was going too fast for the wet conditions. Similar to the incident last year, the bus company involved in this crash has a history of violations on its record.
Star Tag Inc., the company involved in this most recent bus accident, has received four unsafe driving citations in the past two years. In addition, recorded inspections of the company’s buses have routinely turned out maintenance violations. In May, authorities caught one of the company’s buses going fifteen miles per hour over the speed limit.
On July 4, the bus involved in this most recent accident struck a median barrier on Interstate 95 and lost control before sliding hundreds of feet along an outer barrier. The investigation is still ongoing as to the specific causes of this accident. More than 20 passengers on the bus and the bus driver needed to go to go to the hospital for their injuries.
This accident comes in the wake of a serious crackdown on safety violations in the transportation industry. Only about a month ago, government officials embarked on a mission to locate and cure safety violations in the area. Officials visited almost two dozen operations and closed many for noncompliance.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, “Tour bus crash north of NYC sends 24 to hospital,” July 4, 2012
