Orangetxguy said:
Quote:
|
Yet another article about this accident, and one that explains in greater detail why the NTSB has recommended the charges.
|
Where's the LINK???? Oh, and.... I don't think the NTSB recommended any charges. The Fed prosecutor and the grand jury did.
Quote:
|
Something I find disturbing, is the lack of the NTSB to clarify what the 78 year old school bus driver was doing, while the school band was performing in it's day long competition.
|
Without seeing the bus driver's logs, it is hard to tell if he was HOS compliant... yet with no actual mention of it, I assume he was. However, the articles clearly stated that this 78 yr old man (IMHO too old to be driving commercially) had not slept for 19 hours! An OLD MAN.... without even a nap in 19 hours??? And driving at 2 in the morning??? Without wearing the glasses required on his driver's license? I wouldn't get on THAT bus!
Quote:
|
What do you all think. Do you think that the bus driver had adequate rest before he drove that bus towards the home school district?
|
Absolutely NOT! But, unfortunately.... I agree with the NTSB that that factor probably had nothing to do with the accident.
Quote:
|
Or do you think maybe the bus driver watched most of the competition, as I have seen numerous bus drivers do over the years, then drove the bus westward into a fatal accident?
|
Very possibly. However, to clear up a thing you assumed earlier on.... this was a CHARTER bus... not a SCHOOL bus. The driver may not even be from the area. IF this was an all day event, oftentimes bus drivers are taken to local hotels for a restbreak. I don't think this driver DID... and may not have needed it for his HOS. But, somehow.... he had not slept in 19 hours, was driving late into the night, and was too old to pull that off safely.
Quote:
|
I find this statement from the NTSB, hard to understand;
|
Quote:
The absence of lighting on the semitrailer truck and Rasmus' use of low-beam headlights made it difficult for him to see the overturned truck, the NTSB said.
But his early problems with cataracts -- a key defense argument at the criminal trial -- most likely didn't affect the outcome of the crash, the NTSB said.
The NTSB also said that the bus, owned by Chippewa Trails, had out-of-adjustment brakes, but that probably didn't contribute to the accident.
Not sure which part confuses you. The truck was lying probably on its right side with cab near median. This shows the black - UNLIT - undercarriage of the trailer to the busdriver. I've seen these a few times myself, and they are like invisible at night!
As for his cataract problem (which MAY have been corrected but not changed on his license,) they DID say he was supposed to be wearing his glasses, but maybe his vision had been corrected. Regardless.... what the NTSB is saying is that, although there were other "factors" like the eyesight and the bad brakes, NEITHER of these factors contributed to, nor could have prevented, the accident. That's just kinda how they cover all bases.
Quote:
|
And...I really don't buy this arguement from the defense attorney either;
|
Neither do I! Where's that link?
As Lowrange pointed out after reading your earlier links.... this driver was "out there." If you don't have time to touch a logbook for 5 days.... you are pushing it WAY too much! Apparently, he had time to do some line 5 the night before (not sure if they mean more than 24 hours before..) but not to even ATTEMPT to fabricate some logs???
Under those conditions, I don't care WHAT that bus driver's condition was... I can't believe the trucker got OFF on the manslaughter type charges!!
Note also that this driver was only about 22 at the time of the accident. Barely old enough to drive INTERSTATE commerce! Couldn't have been driving for very long!
There ya go, AVC..... I guess he really, really needed a job and had that special "work ethic" you were talking about!
I bet Whole Foods, facing multiple civil lawsuits, are taking names of seasoned VETS they can fire to make room for new drivers with better "work ethics" right NOW! :lol2:
