Eight people were killed and at least 35 others were critically injured in a Colusa County, California bus crash yesterday, October 5, 2008, after their charter bus drifted off a rural road near Williams, flipped over and rolled into a ditch. According to a News10 report, the driver of the bus, 52-year-old Quentin Joey Watts of Stockton has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence at the time of the 10/05/08 bus accident.
Eyewitnesses told California Highway Patrol officials that the bus drifted off Lone Star Road and then rolled over several times ejecting passengers into a field. The bus was reportedly carrying passengers north from Sacramento to the Colusa Casino Resort and taking a shortcut along Lone Star Road at about 6:15 the night of 10/5/08 when the tour bus accident occurred.
My heart goes out to all of the people injured on this bus and the families of those who died in this horrible accident. Please keep them in your prayers.
In 2006, there were 331 deaths as a result of bus accidents and 16,044 bus accident related injuries nationwide, according to statistics from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. California accounted for 45 deaths and 1,488 injuries as a result of bus accidents.
I have a bad feeling about the victims’ ability to collect compensation from this driver and his company.
There is little question that the driver of this charter bus, Quentin Joey Watts, is civilly responsible for the injuries stemming from the Oct. 5th, 2008 accident. I seriously doubt Watts has sufficient assets or insurance to cover the losses stemming from this traffic accident. Where will the compensation money come from to compensate all the victims?
Although the bus had some Greyhound markings, investigators believe Greyhound sold the bus to the current operator two years ago. There are questions whether Watts had proper permits to be operating the charter bus and carrying the number of people that were aboard at the time of the accident. CHP officials said the bus had Texas license plates that were no longer valid.
Who owns this bus and the charter company? Do they have sufficient insurance? What kind of a company has an intoxicated driver, not operating permit and an expired, out of state registration? A company without sufficient assets or insurance, that’s who!
Right now there are more questions than answers. This case needs an exceptionally skilled law firm to not only figure out what actually happened but to follow the trail back to the money, even if that trail leads all the way back to the casino. From a large personal injury law firm’s point of view, this is an exciting and challenging case to pursue in order to get the victims the compensation they are entitled to and hold the wrongdoers accountable.
Victims and their families should consult a very experienced and tenacious law firm to represent their interests at their earliest possible convenience. Victims and their families should not give any statements to anyone, talk to investigators or adjusters, sign any documents or give any releases until they are represented by a skilled personal injury attorney.
The best personal injury law firms, will provide a free consultation, a comprehensive analysis and will charge no fees or costs until the case is concluded. We’d be pleased to provide a free comprehensive consultation to anyone of the passengers or their family.