Bus Driver Acquitted of Homicide, but Lawsuits to Resume
After a homicide trial, several lawsuits will resume against a bus driver, the bus company and others.
March 14, 2012
The driver of a double-decker commercial bus that crashed outside Syracuse, N.Y. in 2008, killing four people, will go free after a court acquitted the man of all criminal charges. He was charged with four counts of criminally negligent homicide after driving the 13-foot-high Megabus into a railroad bridge overpass with a posted clearance of 10 feet, 9 inches. According to Philly.com, 13 "low bridge" warning signs, some with flashing yellow lights, dotted the side of the road leading up to the bridge.Criminally Negligent Homicide Charges
After a non-jury trial, the court found the defendant not guilty on all four felony-level criminally negligent homicide charges brought after the fatal bus accident. The Onondaga County Court judge also ruled the defendant not guilty of one count of failure to obey a traffic control device. Instead, the judge said that the bridge poses a danger that the state failed to fix, as argued by the defendant's lawyer at trial.
Between 1987 and 2010, the bridge was the scene of 53 auto accidents, according to The Washington Times. These statistics played into the judge's conclusion that the defendant was not criminally negligent despite his failure to obey the warning signs. The judge's decision, however, does not rule out the possibility that he will be found negligent for purposes of civil lawsuits filed against the man.
Passengers' Civil Lawsuits
Several civil lawsuits were put on hold by the criminal trial but will resume now that the trial has ended. One such lawsuit was brought in Philadelphia on behalf of a passenger who suffered a significant brain injury in the accident. Wrongful death lawsuits filed by victims' family members are also likely.
Those injured in tragic bus accidents, as well as families of fatal accident victims, should seek legal representation by a skilled personal injury attorney who will fight to obtain compensation for losses accident victims suffered.
Article provided by Law Offices of James Morris
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