Four of the 31 people injured in a tour bus crash last month near Palm Springs that killed a dozen of their fellow passengers filed two lawsuits Monday against the estate of the bus company’s owner/driver in Los Angeles.
One of the negligence lawsuits was brought by Gilma Chambers and Jorge Lopez and the other by Roy Costa and Rowena Valerio. Both complaints name as defendants USA Holiday and the estate of Teodulo Elias Vides — the bus driver and company owner who died in the crash, along with 12 of the 42 passengers.
A representative for USA Holiday could not be immediately reached for comment on the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuits.
Late last month, relatives of Gustavo Garcia and Tony Mia, who were among those killed in the crash, filed suit in Los Angeles against the same defendants, alleging negligence and wrongful death.
The bus had taken gamblers on a junket to the Red Earth Casino at Salton City, about 25 miles south of Indio, and was being driven back to the Los Angeles area when it slammed into the rear of a big rig on westbound Interstate 10, west of Indian Canyon Drive, at 5:15 a.m. Oct. 23.
California Highway Patrol officials said it was unclear how fast the bus was traveling when it rear-ended the refrigerated truck trailer that was carrying food. Authorities said the force of the collision indicated the bus was traveling at a far higher speed than the truck, which the CHP said was traveling at about 5 mph. The posted speed limit is 70 mph.
The bus had been inspected as late as last April and had shown no defects, CHP Border Division Chief Jim Abele said.
A guest manifest from the casino indicated that Vides was “likely” in the casino with the passengers, according to the CHP. The bus arrived at Red Earth Casino sometime between 11 and 11:30 p.m. Oct. 22 and departed at around 4 the next morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, announced that some tires on the bus were overly worn, putting the vehicle out of compliance with federal regulations. But an exact cause of the crash has not yet been determined, and the NTSB’s report is not expected to be completed for several months.
—City News Service