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Ten dead after bus owned by SLO company crashes

April 11, 2014

crime scene tapeA tour bus owned by a San Luis Obispo company crashed on Interstate 5 in Northern California Thursday evening, killing 10 people and hospitalized 35. [KSBY]

The bus was carrying high school students from the Los Angeles area to Humboldt State University for a campus tour. The crash occurred around 5:40 p.m. near Orland, about 100 miles north of Sacramento.

A FedEx delivery truck heading in the opposite direction on the freeway crossed a grass median and slammed into the bus, causing an explosion and a fire, according to the California Highway Patrol. The truck driver might have been trying to avoid a passenger car, which also ended up in the collision.

Bus company Silverado Stages, which owns the tour bus involved in the crash, is based in San Luis Obispo and runs buses to Hearst Castle. It also contracts with Amtrak. The company issued a statement Thursday.

“We take the most extensive actions possible to ensure the safety of our passengers, and all of our drivers, and this is never a call that you want to get,” Silverado Stages said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured, their families and everyone affected by this accident.”

Both the drivers of the tour bus and the FedEx truck died in the crash. The Red Cross in Orland is providing aid to the survivors.

 


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The FedEx guy was 32. I have a sneaky suspicion he was focused on his cellphone unless something mechanically occurred. What a tragedy. I hope the authorities will look into this and hope his phone records will reveal as such.


The other thing is that a woman was driving the bus. One survivor reported on KSBY that she had enough time to react but instead froze. She was only one hour into her shift after the drivers exchanged in Sacramento, therefore fatigue could not have been an issue on her part.


I feel that a male driver possesses a more natural instinct and ability to function under such circumstances. The necessary snap decisions and motor skills required in such instances as these are best performed by the hands of a man.


Just sayin’..


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Wow, this is a terrible tragedy.


So much loss of young lives. I am wondering how fast that FedEx truck was going to not only cross a grass median but have enough force to explode and do the damage that was done. I suppose the skid marks on the road / ruts in the median will give evidence of how much stopping force was attempted.


Such a sad thing for all involved.


It does also make me wonder what about all the packages and their intended recipients. I remember hearing about a mail truck that crashed and burned up the mail it was carrying… I’m always curious what happens then? I mean, people send bills and payments, and there are due dates, etc. I guess with FedEx everything is tracked and insured (to a degree)…


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Capitalism run amok.


That’s your prescrept, Roy. Faster and better. More money all the time.


You ever think this culture of hustling is self destructive ? If you DO think ?


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my condolences to everyone involved; a terrible accident.


wish you’d chosen a less happy picture for the story. :-(


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What a heartbreaking tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families involved.


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