Bus driver still in critical condition

Friday, July 6, 2001 | 10:04 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The driver of a Greyhound bus that crashed through a guardrail at an Interstate 15 exit ramp near Glendale remained in critical condition this morning.

Two more injured passengers were released Thursday from Las Vegas-area hospitals while the Nevada Highway Patrol began mechanical tests on the bus.

Sixteen passengers remained hospitalized after the Tuesday morning crash, with 61-year-old bus driver Jerry Davis and two others still in critical condition, Greyhound spokeswoman Kristin Parsley said.

All 38 passengers on the ill-fated New York-to-Los Angeles bus were taken to hospitals after the wreck on Interstate 15 at Glendale, about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Just one of the passengers, a 5-year-old boy, escaped injury.

Greyhound officials retrieved passengers' luggage and belongings before Nevada Highway Patrol mechanics began examining the wheels, brakes and engine of the 55-seat bus, said Trooper Alan Davidson, a highway patrol spokesman.

Crash investigators impounded the bus data recorder, which will show speed, steering and braking information at the time of the 3:20 a.m. crash, he said.

Davidson said the recorded data and mechanical test results will be reviewed this weekend and probably be made public Monday.

He discounted reports that Davis might have suffered from medical condition that caused him to lose control of the bus.

"He just fell asleep," Davidson said. "Witnesses inside bus said he fell asleep twice before the crash."