Dozing cited in bus crash

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2001 | 11:44 a.m.

The driver of a Greyhound bus didn't wake up until it was too late to keep the bus from crashing through a guard rail on Interstate 15, investigators concluded in a report released Tuesday on the fatal July crash.

The driver, 61-year-old Jerry Davis, suffered fatal injuries in the July 3 accident on an off ramp at Glendale, 40 miles north of Las Vegas. He was in critical condition for 13 days before he died in University Medical Center on July 15.

All 37 passengers and Davis were taken to area hospitals after the crash. Only a 5-year-old boy escaped injury.

"The driver failed to safely decrease speed as he traveled down the off ramp and was unable to properly negotiate the curved ramp," the Nevada Highway Patrol report states. "According to passengers on board, the driver had fallen asleep and did not awaken until it was too late."

The report contains several statements from passengers who said the driver fell asleep several times during the trip.

A Las Vegas man told troopers Davis was goingabout 75 mph into the exit ramp and he yelled to Davis to hit the brakes.

Another Las Vegas man told troopers the driver dozed off and almost hit a rest-stop sign about 16 miles outside of Salina, Utah, according to the report.

A woman from Nebraska who was on the bus said Davis "dozed off slightly" and "everyone mentioned he should wake up, stop and get coffee or something," according to witness accounts in the report.

Davis was driving the early-morning leg of the route from Grand Junction, Colo., to Las Vegas at the time of the accident.

Davis had been off for 13 hours before starting his route, Greyhound officials have said.

The bus left New York City June 30 and was bound for Los Angeles with many stops. The bus was not scheduled to stop in Glendale.

Davis had been driving for Greyhound since 1974. Passengers had twice filed complaints against Davis for sleeping or drowsiness behind the wheel. One complaint was filed with Greyhound in 1993. Another complaint was filed in May.