Investigation of deadly tour bus crash focuses on driver’s speed

Monday, Sept. 28, 1998 | 9:38 a.m.

Although they have not ruled out other factors such as rainy weather, some California Highway Patrol officers questioned the speed the Coach USA bus was traveling before Saturday's crash.

"My guess is that it had something to do with the speed," said CHP Officer Mark Kucera.

Passenger Barbara Dennis, 33, agreed. "I think the driver was going too fast," she said.

One of the victims was identified as Juan Torres, 44, of Berkeley. The name of the other victim, a 59-year-old San Francisco Bay area woman, was withheld pending notification of family members.

A special investigation team from Sacramento spent most of Sunday at the crash site on Interstate 80 near Farad, 15 miles east of Truckee, sifting for clues.

The CHP said the bus was headed from San Francisco to Reno, Nev., when it went out of control and overturned on the rain-soaked interstate, blocking eastbound traffic for hours.

The bus made one stop in Sacramento and was transporting passengers for a weekend gambling junket to the Sundowner Hotel & Casino in Reno.

Phone calls to Coach USA, a Houston-based charter company, went unanswered Sunday. The company has a fleet of more than 2,300 buses and offers transit services for casinos.

Ten passengers remained hospitalized Sunday. Twenty-five other passengers were treated for minor injuries at hospitals and released.

The most severely injured survivor is a woman who suffered internal injuries. She was listed in serious but stable condition at Washoe Medical Center in Reno.

Nine other passengers were listed in satisfactory condition Sunday at Washoe Med.

Most of the more than 40 passengers were from the San Francisco Bay area, the CHP said.

Passenger Marcus Perryman, 28, of Richmond, Calif., said the experience was so frightening he'd never ride a tour bus again.

"I just won't," he said. "I can't help it ... I was asleep when the whole thing went down."

CHP Officer Ron Wulff said the bus had just come out of a curve in the road when it tipped over, coming to a rest on its side.

"We've had worse accidents, but anything like this is a tragedy with the loss of life and injuries," he said.

In May 1991, a Starline bus plunged into the Walker River near Walker, Calif., killing 21 senior citizens on their way home from a Reno gambling trip.

The driver pleaded no contest to six manslaughter charges.

The driver in the latest crash, whose name wasn't released, escaped injury. He was interviewed at the scene by the CHP and a blood sample was taken from him.