WCBS 880 Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 10 – Tour Bus Crashes
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - WCBS Newsradio 880 is counting down the top 11 Tri-State area stories of 2011. Number 11 was political and number 10 is tragic.
WCBS 880's Wayne Cabot On The Story
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A night of fun and gambling at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut ended with 15 dead on I-95 on the Bronx - Westchester County line.
While riding the red eye bus to Chinatown, sleeping passengers awoke to feel the World Wide Travel tour bus, traveling close to 80 miles an hour, flip onto its side, crashing straight through a sign post.
"The impact so severe, nearly the entire top of the bus was sheered off," reported CBS2's Kathryn Brown. "The bus driver, 40-year-old Ophadell Williams of Brooklyn told investigators he lost control when a tractor trailer veered into his lane and he swerved to miss it."
But there was no truck, according to witnesses.
Williams is in jail, unable to make bail, with a hearing in two weeks.
WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported on the crackdown that followed.
"Gov. Cuomo calls them frequent and flagrant violators. Eight companies have five days to get their buses off New York roads," he said.
Still, the accidents kept coming.
Another Chinatown tour bus killed two on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick days later.
NTSB chairwoman Deborah Herzman says the technology exists to make buses safer, and her panel has recommended lawmakers mandate it.
"We have seen no sense of urgency," she said.
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WCBS 880 Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 11 - Gov. Chris Christie
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