BUS OVERTURNS IN DEADLY COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ACCIDENT
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have confirmed the death of a woman who was aboard a bus which overturned in Canada on July 13. According to the RCMP, a commercial tour bus chartered through a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, company was traveling near Neils Harbour, Nova Scotia, when the driver apparently lost control in a turn. The vehicle then hit the shoulder on the side of the road before overturning onto its side.
The RCMP says that there were 21 people aboard the chartered bus including the driver at the time of the accident. Most of the passengers were from the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, area. They were part of a tour group which had gone to sightsee along the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia.
A spokesperson with the Cape Breton District Health Authority said that a total of 18 of the passengers involved in the accident were treated at two area hospitals. The RCMP says that two passengers remained in serious but stable condition. Police have not yet issued a cause for the accident. The investigation remains ongoing.
People injured in commercial vehicle accidents need to know that the commercial carrier has a duty to exercise reasonable care to ensure the safety and well-being of its passengers. This includes making sure that drivers are physically able to perform their functions and receive appropriate and ongoing training. This means that a commercial carrier can be liable if it can be determined that their driver was excessively fatigued or otherwise impaired.
Additionally, commercial carriers also have an obligation to ensure that their vehicles maintain the standards of current safety road regulations. Conditions such as faulty brakes, unserviceable wheels and tires can potentially put a commercial carrier at liability for civil litigation. Passengers injured as a result of an otherwise preventable accident may be entitled to recover monetary damages for their injuries as well as lost wages.
Source: NovaNewsNow.com, “Updated: Woman dead after Cabot Trail tour bus crash” Jul. 14, 2014