This past weekend, a tour bus struck and killed a man while crossing the street in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. ABC News reports that the pedestrian had been a schoolteacher in San Francisco for many years. The tour bus company, San Francisco Deluxe Sightseeing, denies any wrongdoing.
This accident marks the third San Francisco tour bus crash in the last two months. In December, nine people suffered serious personal injuries when an SUV collided with a tour bus on the Embarcadero. In November 20 people were harmed at Union Square when a sightseeing bus crashed into scaffolding. An investigation into this accident has revealed that several of the busses in this fleet have “issues,” including busses that hadn’t been properly inspected, buses that had not been properly maintained, and drivers who were required to work more than eight hours in a day.
Whenever a tour bus accident occurs, it is important to not only investigate the conduct of the driver, but also of the company who owns and manages the buses. While the cause of an injury accident may be driver error, a company may also be held to blame if it negligently hired a driver with a past history of reckless conduct, if the company violated the law by requiring drivers work beyond the allowed hours, or if the buses are allowed to be driven while not properly maintained.
The accident remains under investigation.
For more information, or if you or someone you love has been injured in a tour bus accident, please contact the experienced San Francisco personal injury lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP for an immediate consultation.