LITTLE ROCK — A Dallas bus company involved in an Arkansas crash that killed four people in 2007 drew a $55,000 fine from federal authorities for violating provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Federal Motor Carrier Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division announced the fine Monday against Tornado Bus Co.
In addition to the fine for violating the act’s passenger carrier accessibility requirements, a consent decree also requires the company to upgrade its fleet to meet the act’s requirements by February or its operating authority will be revoked, the agencies said in a news release.
“Every person deserves the right to travel freely and have equitable access to transportation services,” said Ray LaHood, secretary of the U.S. Transportation Department, which oversees the Federal Motor Carrier Administration. “This enforcement case sends a strong message that we will not allow commercial bus companies to shun their responsibility to operate fairly and safely.”
A federal investigation found that Tornado had one accessible bus in a fleet of 53 buses, while Americans with Disability Act regulations require that at least 50 percent of a carrier’s vehicles be accessible.
The investigation also found the company had purchased new non accessible buses, failed to train employees on interacting with disabled passengers and failed to establish a wheelchair lift maintenance program, the news release said. The fine and citations came as a result of an Americans with Disabilities Act strike force held in May.
A call to the company’s main office in Dallas wasn’t immediately returned Monday afternoon.
On the night of Nov. 25, 2007, a Tornado bus driven by Felix Badillo Tapia of Brownsville, Texas, was westbound on Interstate 40 about 12 miles east of Forrest City when it crossed the median and struck a pickup driven by 30-year-old Danny Okurily. The bus, on a trip from Chicago to Dallas, was then broadsided by a tractor-trailer.
Of the 46 passengers on the bus, three died: Raul Lopez, 58, of West Chicago, Ill.; Ana Contreas, 41, of The Woodlands, Texas; and Maria del Carmen Fuentes Macias, 66, of Plano, Ill. Okurily also was killed in the crash. Twenty other passengers on the bus were hurt.
In May of 2009, Tapia pleaded guilty in St. Francis County Circuit Court to a single count of manslaughter for Okurily’s death and was sentenced to a year in jail.
He originally faced four counts of negligent homicide in the crash before prosecutors amended the charges to misdemeanor manslaughter in November 2008. On the day Tapia pleaded, prosecutors dropped three of the charges because they couldn’t locate witnesses or family members to attend the hearing.
Although Tapia was under the influence of amphetamines at the time of the crash, prosecutors said they couldn’t prove the drugs impaired Tapia’s driving abilities. Had the drugs impaired Tapia’s driving, it could have been key evidence in sustaining a felony conviction, they said.
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 09/28/2010