City Sightseeing, the tour bus company involved in a horrific crash in San Francisco’s Union Square is under increased scrutiny by the California Highway Patrol, including a surprise inspection of paperwork, machinery, and bus fleet. A mechanic at the company confirmed that they had received a surprise inspection from the CHP, although the CHP has declined to comment on the investigation.
“I cannot confirm that yet. Once we have information I will be happy to share with you. At this point we don’t have any information to share with you” said Daniel Hill of the California Highway Patrol.
It is obvious, however, that the crash has prompted some increased scrutiny on the company, where a driver said his brakes failed shortly before the bus careened into a construction scaffold, injuring 20 people. Three remain hospitalized.
“Anytime we go in for an inspection we always do random sampling” Hill said.
Random? Doesn’t seem so random to me. And rightfully so. Although the CHP has done random examinations in the past, the bus involved in the San Francisco Union Square accident was examined. Why? For one reason, because the company never reported the bus to the California Public Utilities Commission. As far as the Commission was concerned the bus didn’t’ even exist. Failure to report the addition of a bus to your fleet, or the use of a bus in this case, is a violation of state law.
“This company did have satisfactory rating, but doesn’t necessarily mean that every single vehicle was properly maintained. We can’t say that because we can’t look at every vehicle. That is the responsibility of the company.” Added Hill.
Responsibility is right. The company is responsible not only to report the bus’ existence, which it failed to do, but is also responsible for the bus’ functioning and that it is safe to operate on the road. Clearly the company failed to do either. And the result? 20 injured. This is absolutely unacceptable, we can’t allow companies to go unchecked, and further injure our citizens and tourist populations. I, for one, call for a full investigation of this company, complete examination of their fleet, and a full report released to the public. It’s time to hold City Sightseeing responsible for their actions.
This driver who has been vilified, may just yet turn out to have been heroic in his valiant efforts to get that bus stopped when the brakes failed and the accelerator stuck. We cannot assume, just because a vehicle is on the road, that someone official has approved of its use. And these buses are built with some very surprisingly unsafe features. Time will tell, and investigation of this bus in detail will bring to light the evidence as to just why this bus went on a downtown rampage.
Hello, I’m Claude Wyle, a San Francisco tour bus accident attorney. Have an idea for a topic you’d like to see covered here? Feel free to contact me or visit www.ccwlawyers.com
