A Greyhound bus rear ended a tractor trailer on I-80 in Pennsylvania in 2013, killing one woman and injuring dozens. Now one of the injured – an opera singer from Cleveland – is filing a lawsuit against Greyhound for injuries that left her unable to sing.

The woman was 18 at the time of the crash and was on the way from Cleveland to New York City to meet a famous opera singer. On the way home, the crash happened; apparently the bus driver fell asleep behind the wheel.

Among the woman’s serious injuries were brain damage, a shattered leg, and worst for her, broken neck vertebrae that have affected her voice box so that she can not sing professionally.

According to a recent CNN report, Greyhound does not do enough to ensure that its drivers are fit to drive. Internal Greyhound documents state that drivers are supposed to stop and stretch every 150 miles to reduce driver fatigue, but few do.

A recent government report found that 37% of all bus crashes in the US are from driver fatigue.

Another passenger on that bus who lost his leg also filed a personal injury lawsuit and won $27 million in damages.

All commercial carriers in the US are required to put public safety above all other considerations. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Statistics show that the majority of truck and bus crashes are due to driver fatigue or driver distraction.

We often have clients in Virginia bus and truck crashes whose lives were ruined by the carelessness of a weary driver. One of our recent driver fatigue cases resulted in a $5.5 million settlement. While we were pleased with the result as that money will go to helping the injured get on with their lives, it would be even better if all commercial truck and bus drivers would get enough rest so that they can drive safely.