bus crash hurts 33
Mood:  irritated
Topic: news
this kind of accident gives the rest of us drivers a bad name....SAFETY FIRST and DO NOT speed to get there on time.!!!!

Fung Wah bus crash hurts 33
By Casey Ross
Boston Herald Reporter

Wednesday, September 6, 2006 - Updated: 01:19 AM EST

A packed Fung Wah bus that overturned and injured 33 people yesterday appeared to have taken a curvy highway exit at high speed - a mistake authorities said came despite increased scrutiny of the company’s safety performance.

The accident created chaos along Interstate 290 in Auburn as state police closed Exit 7 about 2:10 p.m. and ferried injured passengers to the University and Memorial campuses of the UMass Medical Center. Passengers waited for emergency vehicles while sitting or lying on a grassy roadside. Authorities said all the injuries appeared to be minor.



“It appears the bus was probably traveling too fast for the off-ramp, which caused the bus to roll over on its side,” Auburn police Chief Andrew Sluckis said.

Uninjured passengers on the New York-to-Boston bus were transferred to a new bus and taken to South Station. One man who was still waiting for that bus to arrive at 5:45 p.m. said it was further delayed when the new driver was found not to have a proper license.

“It’s ridiculous,” said the man, who declined to give his name.

The rollover comes one year after Fung Wah, a popular discount carrier from Chinatown, faced intense scrutiny when one of its buses burst into flames along Interstate 91 in Connecticut. There were no injuries, but passengers claimed the company refused requests for basic information following the incident.

Fung Wah officials declined to comment yesterday, saying no one was available to speak with the media. State police identified the driver as Chuandai Chen, 44, of Brooklyn.

State regulators began more rigorous inspections at South Station last year following safety concerns raised about the operation of Fung Wah and other discount carriers. Fung Wah drivers have been accused of speeding and lacking English language skills.

A top official with the state Department of Telecommunications and Energy said the bus involved in yesterday’s crash passed a safety inspection in May. The official, DTE executive director Tim Shevlin, said Fung Wah has performed well in recent inspections. He said investigators are probing the driver’s history and how fast he was traveling.