Driver in Fatal Central California Tour Bus Crash had History of Prior Accidents
You have likely heard about the recent deadly tour bus carrying tourists, mostly from France, from the San Francisco area down to Los Angeles, where they were due to depart back to France. The Orion Pacific tour bus had overturned on a highway overpass in Central California where four passengers were ejected from the bus as it lay in a wreck around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. There were five confirmed deaths from the bus accident.
Photo Gallery with 8 total images from KTLA News
A new detail reveals that the American driver, John Egnew, 69, of Corona in Riverside County, had been involved in another accident about three years ago. The Associated Press found evidence that in 2005, Egnew struck a 71-year-old woman in Las Vegas as she was crossing the street with her husband, leaving the woman with serious injuries. Egnew claimed that he didn't see the pedestrian on the road. You can read more about this Central California bus accident in this KTLA news story.
While the recent fatal bus accident was the only vehicle involved, the death of Egnew will be difficult to determine the cause of the crash. His record of a prior pedestrian accident was very suspicious, and it is unclear why the Orion Pacific tour bus company kept him on as an employee. Though the results of that bus accident are not clear, hitting a pedestrian can be a very costly offense, and the overturning of his bus could easily have involved many more people along the road nearby.
If you or someone you know has ever been injured in a San Diego bus accident, please call San Diego bus accident attorney Ross Jurewitz and the other San Diego personal injury lawyers at the Jurewitz Law Group at (619) 233-5020. You may also contact these San Diego bus accident attorneys online here.
