YUCAIPA: Bus company has history of safety violations
The bus involved in a wreck that has killed eight people north of Yucaipa belonged to a company cited at least 36 times for safety violations, records show.
Scapadas Magicas LLC of National City fared worse than three-fourths of U.S. bus companies with a similar number of inspections, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Violations ranged from oil leaks to brake problems, inoperable headlights and insufficient tire tread.
The company had one violation in the past two years related to driver fitness, according to records.
The bus is expected to be removed as soon as Monday afternoon, the CHP said.
The lone body that remained on the bus throughout Monday morning was removed about 2:30 p.m. As media watched, firefighters climbed on top of the smashed bus and removed the body. Firefighters held up a large red tarp so the removal could not be viewed.
CHP officer Leon Lopez said authorities originally believed that there were two bodies on the bus. He revised the death toll to seven dead at the crash scene.
Redlands Community Hospital marketing and public relations manager Nikyah Pfeiffer said one adult female died sometime late last night or early this morning, bringing the total dead to eight. Pfeiffer said the woman had not been identified when she was picked up by the coroner.
Pfeiffer said at one point the hospital had six patients; one was transferred to Loma Linda, four were treated and released.
The last patient was released around 6:30 a.m.
The bus is being moved to a place where the CHP's Major Accident Investigation Team can examine the bus for mechanical defects.
The San Bernardino County coroner has concluded its work at the scene, Lopez said.
Coroner's officials had been searching the area around the wreckage of the tour bus Monday morning. The mangled bus remained parked on Highway 38, hanging over the edge of the road, some 10 feet above a ravine, just north of Bryant Street.
Earlier in the morning California Highway Patrol officers had said the bus was too unstable and therefore unsafe to board in order to retrieve what they believed were two remaining bodies, but by the afternoon the bus had been secured by a crane and when CHP investigators got on board they found only the one victim.
None of those killed have been identified and many family members of the dead or injured have not been notified.
The tally of those who were on board is still unclear. CHP officials believe it's somewhere between 35 and 43 people, CHP Officer Mario Lopez said.
Source: http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20130204-yucaipa-bus-company-has-history-of-safety-violations.ece--
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