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Virginia (VA) Mass Transit Accident Injury Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC 


Blog Category:

Mass Transit (Airline, Train, Bus)

6/7/2010
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
Comments (0)

Fatal Indianapolis Wedding Bus Crash Involved Run Red Light, Unlicensed Driver

The newswires buzzed this past Sunday and Monday with report of a supposedly happy ending to story that began with a deadly traffic accident in downtown Indianapolis on the afternoon of June 5, 2010. A chartered shuttle bus carrying a wedding party and guests collided with a Chevy Yukon, injuring more than a dozen people on the bus. Also, one of the groomsmen died at the scene after suffering a severe brain injury when the bus, hired from the Mavris Arts & Event Center, spun at least 90 degrees and flipped onto its side.
Indiana Wedding Bus Crash
The positive spin put on the story was that the bride and groom went through with their marriage ceremony at the hospital where they and their injured friends and family members received treatment. Police investigations into the accident painted a darker picture.

Eyewitness accounts and reconstructions indicate that the bus driver ran a red light, putting his passengers in the path of oncoming traffic. Further, the driver of the SUV, identified in press reports as Camilo Ortega-Aldarbo, did not have -- and had never held -- a driver's license.

So the bus driver failed to heed a traffic signal and fatally endangered his passengers. At the same time, the driver of the SUV seems to have been an accident waiting to happening. Such an accident did happen, and 29-year-old father James Douglass lost his life.

Bus companies and drivers literally hold passengers' lives in their hands. Likewise, every driver on the road needs to be licensed and alert and able to respond to unexpected situations such as another vehicle running a red light.

My thoughts go out to the Douglass family and everyone affected by his untimely passing.

EJL


Labels: accident Attorney brain injury bus bus drivers Crash died flipped Indianapolis injury John C. loss of life motor coach red light SUV wedding wrongful death


About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Viriginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling cases for victims of mass transit accidents such as airplane, train and bus crashes. In fact, our law firm published a free consumer safety guide on what to do if you are hurt in a plane wreck.

We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia but we're ready to come to you anywhere in VA including Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Norfolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008, and have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of lawyers receive.

Shapiro and Lewis have also been selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, ours was the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA mass transit injury law firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can respond directly to you.

 

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Virginia Beach, VA Personal Injury Attorneys
Virginia (VA) Personal Injury Lawyers
Specializing in Virginia Wrongful Death & Injury Law 


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