Riding in a van with bald tires and no safety belts, two persons died and five were injured in the 2005 crash of a van operated by Texas bus line Los Paisanos. Now an El Paso jury has awarded $132 million to the victims and their survivors in a judgment against the bus line.

Beyond bad tires and no safety belts, testimony indicated that the bus driver -- a bus line employee -- began speeding while eating and the van slid off a road near Denver, CO. Plaintiffs’ attorneys said the bus line had treated its passengers “like cattle.”

The bus line argued that the accident was entirely the fault of the driver. But plaintiffs’ lawyers stressed that the bus line was responsible for the van it owned and the driver it employed. The driver did not appear in court and is believed to have left the country.

The jury took less than three hours to decide the civil lawsuit.

Catastrophic bus accidents often are the fault of the bus line, not simply as individual bus driver. Many buses are not properly maintained, as in the case of the El Paso line’s bus with bald tires. Bad brakes are another maintenance problem of which innocent passengers may not be aware.

Such negligence flies in the face of extensive state and federal regulations governing passenger vehicles, which bear a special responsibility to those who ride in them. Yet  bus safety violations continue to crop up as a cause of many bus accident injuries and fatalities.

If you or a loved one has been harmed in a bus accident, notify a bus accident lawyer or attorney with Jim S. Adler & Associates. A legal representative will help you assess your prospects for a bus accident lawsuit to seek financial compensation for your medical costs, lost wages and pain and suffering.

Call 1-800-505-1414 today or fill out the free case review form on this Web page, and let an Adler bus accident attorney begin fighting for your legal rights.