Driver Kin Yiu Cheung charged in bus crash that killed 4, hurt dozens
(CBS/AP) BOWLING GREEN, Va. - A bus operated by a discount company with a particularly poor record of fatigued driving overturned on a Virginia highway before dawn Tuesday, killing four people and injuring more than 50 others.
Pictures: Driver charged in bus crash that killed 4
The driver, Kin Yiu Cheung, has been charged with reckless driving, and police said fatigue was a factor.
The SkyExpress bus swerved off northbound Interstate 95, hit an embankment and flipped just before 5 a.m. about 30 miles north of Richmond. Fifty-four people were taken to area hospitals and treated for minor to severe injuries.
The bus left Greensboro, N.C., on Monday night and was headed to Chinatown in New York City with 59 people aboard. Cheung, 37, of Flushing, N.Y., was being held in an area jail on $3,000 bond.
The company offered its condolences to the families of the four women killed and said it would cooperate fully in the investigation.
"This is the first serious accident" involving SkyExpress buses, the company said in a statement released through its media liaison, Gail Parenteau. "The bus driver has never before been involved in an accident."
SkyExpress Inc. buses have been involved in four crashes, with one injury or fatality -- the motor carrier agency didn't specify which -- during the two-year period that ended May 20.
Its drivers have been cited for 17 unsafe-driving violations, including eight for speeding, since 2009. That gives it worse marks than nearly 63 percent of comparable transportation companies in the agency's unsafe-driving category, which is separate from driver fatigue.
SkyExpress also ranked worse than 99.7 percent of similar companies in driver fitness, with 24 violations, 14 of which were for using drivers who lack English-language skills.
The company runs 31 motor coaches with about 50 drivers. It offers service between New York and 13 cities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and service between Washington, D.C., and two Virginia cities, according to its website.
