Atlanta Bus Accident Tragedy Takes 6 Lives

We heard today on a radio broadcast that struck very close to home that four young men from a college in Bluffton, Ohio had been killed, in addition to a bus driver and his wife. Nine others were seriously injured when a charter bus crashed off of an exit ramp off interstate highway I-75 (inside the city limits of Atlanta) back onto the highway. The facts and circumstances surrounding this tragedy are still being investigated, however, this is an all too familiar tragedy that we see here at our law practice. Our thoughts and prayers go to the families in Bluffton, Ohio and to the University. Obviously, this tragedy will have far-reaching implications for many families and loved ones. Unfortunately, we’ve seen the kind of fallout that can result from cases where apparent driver negligence is involved and results in serious injury and wrongful death.
According to the information released thus far, it appears that the bus driver was merging from a HOV lane off of an exit and then crashed through the railing on the overpass such that the bus then fell back onto the interstate highway below. The bus apparently had thirty-five baseball players on it from Bluffton University in Ohio. It is not yet known why the charter bus driver that was carrying this baseball team drove off the interstate ramp and through the overpass railing but the initial reports indicate that it was due to driver error. Thus, if these initial reports are true, we have yet another tragic case where preventable deaths and injuries were caused by the negligent operation of a common carrier operating in interstate commerce.
Of course, no one knows yet much about the qualifications and training of the driver, the maintenance of the bus, and other pertinent information regarding the charter bus company itself. These facts will obviously emerge during the course of the investigation of this incident. Nonetheless, those passengers who were on this bus and their loved ones regrettably will suffer for the rest of their lives from this tragic incident which occurred here, less than two miles from our office. On behalf of our firm and the City of Atlanta we offer our condolences to the families of all those affected by this tragedy.