Lack of seat belts gets $17.5 million for victims of Texas bus crash

By Jim Greene

Published on November 07, 2005

The driver lost control of the bus in rainy weather near Hewitt, about nine miles SSW of Waco on Feb. 14, 2003, while carrying 34 church members from Temple to Dallas, according to a report by the National Transportation Board. The bus crossed the highway median and hit an SUV head on, killing five bus passengers and two people in the SUV.

Motor Coach Industries of Schaumburg, Ill., was sued by nineteen bus passengers and their families. Damages claims included medical bills, lost wages, burial expenses, and mental anguish resulting from the death of a spouse or parent.

Plaintiff David Hinton, whose mother was killed in the crash, said the suit was necessary to prove that a person riding on a bus should be "as safe as possible."

Jurors in the 170th State District Court were not convinced by Motor Coach's explanation that seat belts are not required because experts, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, have declared that seat belts on buses would not "enhance overall occupant protection."

Plaintiffs' attorneys argued that the fact that passengers were ejected from the bus proved that seat belts would have made a difference.