A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed for more than $10 million on behalf of crash victims in a fatal bus crash in October 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. The lawsuit claims that the school bus driver had been improperly cleared to work even though he had previous wrecks and health problems. 

The lawsuit alleges that the healthcare company Concentra, which certifies commercial truck and bus drivers, overlooked several seizures that the school bus driver had suffered, yet cleared him to drive.

The seizure history, and also diabetes and high blood pressure, should have prevented him from driving a commercial vehicle, according to federal investigators.

One of the attorneys on the case said that if that bus driver could be certified to drive, then anyone could. The lawsuit also names the school bus driver’s employer, AAAfordable Transportation and its owners.

The crash occurred on Nov. 1, 2016 when the school bus rear ended a Ford Mustang, before it crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a Maryalnd Transit Administration bus. The driver and four passengers on the bus died, as did the school bus driver.

Eleven more people were hurt, including MTA bus passengers, a woman on the school bus and the driver of the Mustang.

The NTSB reported last month that school officials in Baltimore had been warned for years that the school bus driver was dangerous. He had previous bus crashes and even had criminal charges, but this did not get him fired from his school bus job.

Doctors continued to clear the bus driver to drive, under a federal system that is made to keep drivers with serious health conditions from operating commercial vehicles.

Our View

Our wrongful death attorneys specializing in truck accidents and bus accidents in Virginia are sorry to hear of this tragic bus accident. Our personal injury attorneys have worked on cases where a truck or bus driver was driving with a medical condition that should have prevented him from getting behind the wheel.

One of our recent clients was a truck driver who stopped on the shoulder of I-95 in Virginia to check on his trailer. Another truck sideswiped and killed him on the spot.

It turned out that the other truck driver had a medical condition that he knew about and his employer should have known about, but he continued to drive. This case was unusual because the truck driver who killed our client himself died a few days after the crash.

If a truck or bus drive hurt or kills another person due to a medical condition, a good personal injury attorney needs to determine if he knew about the condition beforehand. If so, a large settlement is possible, such as the $2.25 million truck accidident settlement in our Virginia case.