Caltrans officials have reopend the left northbound lane of Highway 99, just north of Liberty Road, following a fatal bus crash in Merced County. “The bus struck it with the front right portion of the front of the bus”. Officers say the pole went through the bus.
Advertisement
There were 30 people on the bus at the time of the accident, Onsurez said, and some, like the driver, suffered major injuries. Sixteen others were transported to Mercy Medical Center and Emanuel Medical Center.
Eighteen people were also injured in Tuesday’s crash, but by days’ end none were critical, officials said.
Workers inside the building were directing reporters outside, and people working at other ticketing desks said their companies were not associated with the bus that crashed. Some of his fellow passengers couldn’t move, he said, and many were crying out for help. “We couldn’t pull people out because there was shattered glass everywhere, seats destroyed”, said Sanchez, of Arvin, California.
Lesser injured like himself climbed out on their own, fearful the bus might catch fire. Rescue efforts ran for almost four hours. He said some victims were thrown from the vehicle and landed in a ditch.
Operated by Autobuses Coordinados USA, the bus in question was traveling towards Washington state on State Route 99. Its next stop was Livingston and then Sacramento.
Images from Sacramento television station KCRA showed the pole for an exit sign sliced lengthwise through the bus, from its front to its middle. It was unclear if the reason for the trip was leisure or labor related. As he spoke about 6 a.m., some passengers were still being treated near the bus. The driver of the bus was identified as Mario David Vazquez, 57, from Los Angeles.
Major bus crash Hwy 99. They also said Vasquez became a USA citizen previous year.
“That means the FMCSA – the agency that governs commercial motor vehicles – should have been taking some kind of intervention action to improve the company’s safety”, said Henry Jasny, Vice-President for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a Washington D.C. -based group that lobbies for improved bus safety. Listed on April 28 this year, the violations included: absence of a defective brake warning device; the bus had prohibited or non-automatically folding seats in the aisle; and the bus needed to have its parts and accessories inspected or repaired.
The violation was not further described, and there was no indication whether each of the items had been fixed.
Investigators are still looking into the cause of this accident.
Some highway signs, like those naming the speed limit, have support poles designed with breakaway points, but the poles supporting the much larger overhead signs are created to “stay put”, said Vanessa Wiseman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
Advertisement
The northbound lanes of the freeway were closed during the investigation, backing up traffic for miles.
