Student Injured in DeKalb County School Bus Accident

News of a school bus accident is enough to cause concern to any Georgian. These vehicles carry some of the most precious cargo, and children may be at serious risk of injuries in these accidents. At least one student has been hospitalized with injuries after an accident involving two DeKalb County school buses this week.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the accident occurred on Monday, when bus number 1794 of the McClendon Elementary School struck bus number 1282 at the Lawrenceville Highway and Interstate 285 intersection. One of the children suffered cuts, and was taken to a hospital. Fortunately, there were no other injuries in the accident. The accident seems to have been caused when bus number 1794 backed up into the other bus.

A bus driver who is speeding, or distracted while driving (In Georgia, school bus drivers are banned from talking on the cell phone - even on a hands free set - or texting on one, while driving the bus) may be named in a claim.

School districts and boards have a responsibility when it comes to hiring and training drivers. These vehicles are entrusted with dozens of young lives, and so, drivers must be free of a history of substance abuse, and have an excellent safety record. Failure to follow proper hiring, training and supervision practices can result in the school board or district being named in a claim.

The Georgia bus accident lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of school bus accidents in Atlanta, and around the state of Georgia. 

I came across this interesting report by the Chicago Tribune which elaborated on how one bus manufacturer neglected to inform customers about its defective vehicles for 8 years, while the NHTSA failed to speed up this process.

The bus manufacturer in question is New York-based Transportation Collaborative Inc (TCI). The company recently agreed to inform its customers there are defective parts in its buses that have been recalled. These parts include

·        Unstable seatbacks that could collapse in the event of a crash causing serious injuries

·        Faulty seatbelt anchors that can actually come loose in an accident

·        Defective wheelchair lifts

 Most of these are smaller buses that are typically used by facilities caring for disabled children. There’s worse news - there are as many as 2000 of these defective buses in operation around the country.

The company agreed to notify its customers after the NHTSA scheduled a public hearing to determine if TCI had violated rules requiring it to follow through or repair the recalled parts. The hearing was canceled only after TCI agreed to inform its customers about the parts. The company has been fined $20,000, and has been given time until November 23^rd to inform its customers about the defective buses.

Defective Buses in Operation in Georgia, Could Place Passengers at Accident Risk

At least 5 of those buses are used by Atlanta-based Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers, which uses these vehicles to transport children below the age of 4. The Tribune found that the center was not aware that the buses contained defective recalled parts.

Making matters even more serious is the fact that the agency isn’t aware of exactly how many of these buses are operating around the country. The company has not yet given the agency a list of affected buses, and according to the NHTSA, they have not been able to find out who owns the buses, and in which part of the country these buses are currently operating.

Georgia personal injury lawyers have had their safety concerns about the NHTSA for several years now. Every time the agency dithers in its duties, it places occupants of these buses at serious risk of injuries in a crash. As Atlanta bus accident lawyers, we are concerned at how little control the NHTSA seem to have on bus manufacturers, and the amount of time it takes to get these companies to take the basic steps of informing their customers of recalls, and fixing recalled parts. It shouldn’t take 8 years for these steps to be implemented.

A group of Morehouse College band members were injured on Saturday morning when the bus that was carrying them to a football game in Albany, flipped over on I-75 south in Henry County.

According to Fox News, there were 42 members of the Morehouse College marching band in the bus, which hydroplaned on the wet roads, skidded off the highway and rolled into a ditch. At least 13 of the band members had to be taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries that are not reported to be life threatening. Twenty nine other passengers also had to be taken to hospitals to check on other less serious injuries.

According to Henry County police, the road was slick from recent rains in the area, and that could have played a part in the crash.

There is no information yet on the causes of the accident, but as Georgia bus accident lawyers, we would be very interested to know the speed of the bus at the time of the crash. If the roads were wet as Henry County police say, then the driver had a duty to drive cautiously. Wet roads demand extra careful driving, slowing down speed limits, and greater attention to the road.

Meanwhile, according to new details coming in via CNN, the bus company that owned the bus did not have a permit to operate in Georgia. According to the Georgia Public Service Commission, Superior Transportation Group is not licensed to operate in the state, and according to the PSCs website, the company has one complaint on file for 2008.

The Georgia bus accident lawyers at the Katz Law Firm help injured victims of bus accidents recover their rightful compensation.

MARTA to Crack Down on Distracted Driving

A series of safety incidents in the past few months that have involved MARTA drivers distracted at the wheel, has had Atlanta personal injury lawyers as well as the agency concerned about the increased risk of accidents from such behaviors. MARTA now plans to stress the safety message to encourage drivers and operators to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel while driving.  

·        Recent footage revealed a MARTA bus driver reading a magazine while stopped at a red light.

·        Another photograph showed yet another bus driver apparently eating lunch while balancing his fork and bowl precariously on his lap while at the wheel.

·        In June, a rider on a MARTA train caught footage on his cell phone of an operator texting while on the job.

All three incidents of distracted driving are being investigated, and MARTA plans to do more to drill home the safety message to its employees.  MARTA Deputy General Manager Dwight Ferrell told the AJC that although the agency, which is in dire financial trouble, has cut back on services, this has had little effect on employee work hours and break times. There is no reason why a driver would need to take a lunch break behind the wheel, he says, and there is absolutely no reason why operators should be texting or reading magazines while operating buses and trains.  

Texting by train operators was at the center of the tragic Metrolink train accident in California last year that killed 25 people. Texting by bus drivers and truckers was also one of the issues that were spotlighted at the recent Distracted Driving Summit in Washington. During the summit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the Obama Administration will seek a ban on texting by bus drivers and truckers, and will place restrictions on the use of cell phones by mass transit employees, including rail operators, bus drivers and truckers. The federal administration has said that it will also seek additional restrictions on cell phone use by school bus drivers. This will include disqualifying school bus drivers convicted of texting while driving from retaining their commercial driving licenses.

We Have Back to School Safety on Our Minds

Thousands of school children across Georgia will be heading back to school after the summer break, raising concerns about accidents involving kids.

As Georgia personal injury lawyers, we are concerned that the summer traffic lull might lead to a sense of complacency among motorists. As schools reopen, there are going to be a markedly higher number of students walking and bicycling to and from school. There will also be hundreds of school buses, as well as parents picking up and dropping off their kids at crucial times.

• It's important that parents talk to their kids about traffic safety before the school season begins.
• If your child walks to school, try to make sure he walks in a group. Pedestrians in groups are typically safer than those walking alone.
• Teach your child to avoid unknown shortcuts.
• Teach him the basics of crossing the street - only on a designated crosswalk and after looking left, right and left for approaching cars.
• If your child is bicycling to school, make sure he is wearing a helmet.
• Look for safer, quieter routes that may keep him safe from aggressive and impatient motorists.
• Exercise caution while at a school bus stop. An accident just this month in Atlanta killed a 6-yer-old child as she was walking around the front of the bus with her mother. The child was struck by a motorist who illegally passed the bus and sped ahead.
• Parents who intend to pick up and drop off their kids everyday to and from school, must slow down in a school zone. Remember that a school zone, during starting and closing hours, is crowded with other impatient parents, children and general motorists.

Motorists in general, must slow down in a school zone. Look out for children at crosswalks, and intersections, especially in areas that are home to a number of schools. Remember that traffic is now back to normal, and exercise care and caution at all times.

But for good fortune, it would have been a repeat of the tragic Bluffton bus accident in Atlanta that killed seven people in 2007. A group of students from Michigan escaped serious injuries when their bus driver almost made the same mistake that the Bluffton University bus driver did.

The students who were on their way from Michigan to Orlando were traveling in two buses. The driver of the first bus mistook the exit ramp for a through lane, and just managed to stop in time to avoid a potentially serious crash. It was the exact same mistake that the driver of the bus in which several Bluffton University students had been killed two years ago, had made. The near miss has called into question Georgia Department of Transportation's tardiness in making adequate signage available to warn motorists of the dangerous site. 

According to driver Rick Overtein who narrowly avoided an accident, the ramp is still very "deceiving." Two years after the tragic Bluffton college bus accident, it's obvious that signage warning drivers on the ramp is still insufficient. After the Bluffton accident, the Georgia Department of Transportation had come in for severe criticism, including sharp words from the National Transportation Safety Board for its failure to install proper signage. The Department of Transportation last week began work on updating the HOV exit, where the Bluffton accident occurred, a full two years later. It will be weeks before the overhead signs come up at the site.

To Georgia personal injury lawyers, It isn’t clear why it should take more than two years to correct a defect on a road that was responsible for a deadly bus accident. State agencies are responsible for making sure that highways are safe for use. This includes a well designed road that ensures smooth and safe movement of traffic. From properly functioning lighting to sufficient barriers, signage and smooth road surfaces, motorists deserve to travel on roads that are safe and can help prevent accidents.

Back in 2007, a bus accident in Atlanta, involving a vehicle carrying baseball players of Bluffton University, Ohio killed seven people on board, including five players, the driver and his wife. That accident was blamed on driver error, as well as the failure of the Georgia Department of Transportation to maintain important traffic safety devices.

A new report by ESPN brings back memories of that tragic accident, and underscores how much at danger our college athletes are when they travel in buses that are operated by companies with a bad safety record. An analysis done by ESPN's Outside the Lines shows that between 2007 and 2008, hundreds of college teams and athletes traveled on buses operated by companies that have frequently failed to comply with federal bus safety standards. During this period, close to 85 Division I universities used charter bus companies that were found to be deficient in at least one federal safety score. Even worse, of these 85 universities, close to 35 were been found to have hired buses from companies that have more serious safety infractions on their record. These companies have what is called a "constitutional rating," meaning that the schools should have been refrained from using the company.

Problems at a number of these bus companies used by colleges and universities included faulty maintenance of the buses. Drivers were found to be less than qualified, and too inexperienced to operate these buses.  Tinkering of log books was found to be widespread. Manipulating log books allows drivers to clock in more number of hours than is permitted, ending up with more money for the driver, but seriously jeopardized safety for the passengers of the bus. Drivers were also allowed to work for several days before undergoing drug and alcohol testing. Other more serious problems included malfunctioning emergency exits.   Studies indicate that bus companies that are found to be deficient in safety scores have a higher incidence of accidents. What's worse is that authorities at colleges, who had used these buses frequently, when contacted by the ESPN team, were simply unaware that the companies had all these violations to their credit. 

With universities trying to cut down costs, more of them are ferrying students by buses rather than airplanes. It's fair to assume that none of these students will be aware of the safety record of the company that operates and owns the bus, or the capability of the driver who's driving it. In short, universities are trusting unsafe companies with the safety and lives of their students, and there can be little excuse for such negligence. Not being aware of a bus company's safety record is hardly an excuse. The safety of athletes who are traveling is the responsibility of the university they are playing for, and it's condemnable that these colleges don’t see it necessary to screen the bus companies they hire thoroughly, before they award a contract. As Atlanta bus accident attorneys, we strongly feel that student safety should be worth much more than this. 

Lack of funding is the reason why Clayton County buses are bursting not only with people, but with the potential for a serious accident. According to MARTA, which operates 22 buses through C-TRAN, Clayton County's public transport system, more buses are desperately needed to avoid the overcrowding problem on local buses. The problem is huge, and is getting to the point where a bus is forced to routinely take close to 20 more passengers than it can handle.

MARTA general manager Beverly Scott is concerned enough about the problem to ask for additional funding to address this concern. Apart from at least 6 new buses that will be needed to counter the overcrowding problem, new drivers to operate these as well as additional routes will have to be planned for. On February 17^th at a hearing that included county residents, the Clayton County Commission received an earful of complaints about the dangers they faced traveling on County buses. Besides the road safety issues involved, residents complained that they were frequent fights breaking out on the buses as passengers jostled for space.

MARTA is expecting more than $60 million in federal stimulus money.  However, those expecting the money to be used to expand essential bus services are likely to be disappointed. MARTA expects money to be used for current facilities, including repairs and other projects.

Overcrowding on buses is a bigger safety problem then we may think it is. For instance, fights and threats on a bus when passengers are fighting for even standing space could cause distractions to the driver. As Clayton County personal injury lawyers, we're concerned that an accident involving such a bus also increases the number of injuries on board simply because there were more numbers of people on the bus than should have been there.

It's unfortunate that citizen safety is the first thing to fly out the window as soon as budgeting concerns show up. The overcrowding problem on Clayton County buses is severe enough to take seriously, and lawmakers must make efforts to demarcate funding that will alleviate the problem. It may be difficult, but it can be done if authorities have the stomach for it.

The crash occurred when the bus driver, traveling southbound on I-75, mistook an HOV exit ramp at Northside Drive for the HOV through lane. The bus was carrying members of Ohio’s Bluffton University baseball team as well as the bus driver and his wife. The driver and his wife were killed in the accident as well as five other team members. All twenty-eight surviving passengers were injured when the bus went off the overhead concrete barrier at Northside Drive and crashed onto the interstate below.

The HOV lanes were added at the time of the summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. Ten years of traffic accidents at this site show a history of confusing signage for motorists. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) maintains this roadway.

The NTSB on Tuesday expressed frustration with GDOT’s failure to post adequate signage after similar crashes began occurring. In fact, today the confusing signage remains at this exit ramp.

Accident reconstruction revealed the driver to be travelling approximately 65 mph shortly before braking. This would have been ten miles over the speed limit. He did not appear to brake until he entered Northside Drive traffic. He did not appear to have braked in response to one “exit ramp” sign or two “stop ahead” signs. He also did not brake at the stop signs at the top of the exit ramp. 

However, the NTSB criticized the GDOT signage for its failure to include the word “Exit” at the entrance ramp. The two-sign pole originally intended for installation would have included the word “Exit” but DOT officials left it off in an effort to ready the HOV lanes for the summer Olympics. Today, the signage remains although GDOT has installed smaller signage and more pavement markings since the crash. There are six left-hand HOV exit ramps in metro Atlanta currently.

The NTSB recommended the following changes:

The GDOT should:

1. Install left message plaques ½ mile and one mile prior to the exit ramp and on the directional arrow exit for the ramp.
2. Position the pull-through sign for the southbound I-75 HOV lane next to the exit sign on Northside Drive.
3. Install an advisory speed limit sign on the Northside Drive HOV ramp and on other left-side exit ramps throughout the state.
4. Add an “exit” pavement marking paired with an HOV diamond pavement marking on all left HOV interstate exits.

The Federal Highway Administration should:

1. Include in the manual for traffic control devices that HOV-only left exits have “left” message plaques.
2. Require that “exit” direction arrow signs be placed adjacent to pull-through signs at exits with limited sight distance, short ramps, or multiple route choices.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should:

1. Require new motor coaches to have seatbelts or other crash protection systems
2. Require on-board recording systems for all school buses and motor coaches built after January 1, 2003.    

In 1999, the NTSB recommended that the NHTSA adopt several measure to protect occupants of motor coaches. The NTSB has determined that most fatalities occur when occupants are ejected or partially ejected from buses. Passengers in the March 2, 2007 bus crash were killed when they were ejected through side windows and the windshield. 

HOV lanes are a relatively new addition to our interstate highway system. Despite engineering efforts, the fact remains that drivers do not recognize left-hand exits because they are outside of normal driver expectations. Traffic safety engineers and roadway designers did not take into account or failed to significantly appreciate the driver confusion that arises when left-hand exits are added to the interstate highway system. 

Ten years later, traffic accident data suggests that these may be excessively dangerous. Also, more could be done to protect occupants in buses and motor coaches. Whether our state highway department will heed the warnings and recommendations of the NTSB is another matter. The NTSB has no authority to enforce its recommendations.  Often, legal liability does more to change governmental behavior.  

If you or someone you love is seriously injured in an automobile collision or a bus or trucking accident, contact the law firm of Robert N. Katz for a free, private consultation.