Crash was tour bus operator's fourth in 2 years

Updated: 1:09 p.m. ET - BOWLING GREEN, Va. - A commercial tour bus went off Interstate 95 in Virginia and flipped on its roof before dawn Tuesday, killing four people and injuring many more, state police said.

According to CBS Radio affiliate WTOP, the Sky Express bus was traveling from Greensboro, N.C., to New York City, and the accident occurred near King's Dominion in Caroline County. Sgt. Thomas Molnar said 58 people were on board, including the driver. The injured were taken to Richmond and Fredericksburg-area hospitals.

WTOP reports driver fatigue has been cited in Tuesday's crash. The station reports that Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records show Sky Express buses have been involved in four crashes, with one injury or fatality during the two-year period that ended May 20.

During the two-year period, drivers with the Charlotte-based operator have been cited for 17 unsafe-driving violations, including eight speeding violations. Records show the company was cited for 46 violations related to fatigued driving, including three that were classified as serious.

The driver suffered minor injuries and was cooperating with investigators who are trying to determine what caused the crash, Molnar said. The bus had seatbelts for the driver but not for the passengers.

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has nine people in stable condition, but no details were released about the extent of their injuries. VCU spokeswoman Anne Buckley says the hospital expects more patients to be transferred there from other hospitals.

Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg treated eight patients, whose injuries ranged from critical to minor. Spokeswoman Deborah Morris says one has been released. Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center officials said in a release that it treated eight people for minor injuries.

The 4:55 a.m. accident shut down the northbound lanes of I-95, with some lanes reopened at about noon, WTOP reports.

The crash comes about two and a half months after a horrific New York City accident that focused attention on bus safety. In that March 12 crash, a speeding bus returning from a Connecticut casino toppled off an elevated highway and hit a utility pole, peeling off the roof. Fifteen passengers were killed and 18 injured.

Federal authorities say nearly 2,800 spot safety checks of passenger buses across the country from March 28 through April 6 resulted in about 10 percent of the vehicles or drivers being taken off the road.