French passengers of a Las Vegas tour bus that went bouncing out of control and left the road last year in Death Valley National Park, injuring some of the tourists and tour staff, sued the bus and tour operators on Monday, charging negligence.
A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas by attorneys for the plaintiffs, who are all residents of France. The suit says 12 of the plaintiffs were injured in the accident on Sept. 28, 2010, and that three of their spouses were traumatized by the incident.
The National Park Service at the time said that eight passengers and staff were injured in the incident on Badwater Road (California Highway 178) within the park involving a tour that originated in Las Vegas.
"Investigators believe that the bus driver experienced a stroke or some other sort of medical episode, which caused the vehicle to drift back and forth across both road shoulders, incurring damage to the lower front end and undercarriage, before it came to a stop,’’ a Park Service report at the time on the incident said.
The tour bus was carrying a group of elderly French nationals, which caused language barriers at the scene, the Park Service said.
The injured passengers, as well as the driver and tour guide, were taken to hospitals in Las Vegas for treatment in helicopters and ground ambulances, the Park Service said in its account of the accident.
A report at the time in the Pahrump Valley Times said 34 tourists were on the bus.
Monday’s lawsuit was filed against Busco Inc. dba Arrow Stage Lines, tour company Bonjour USA of New York, bus driver Robert Alan Dallenbach and American Splendor Tour guide Nabil Chehmat.
The suit says that when Dallenbach allegedly lost control of the vehicle, 12 of the plaintiffs "sustained bodily injury from the sudden, abrupt and violent movements of the subject bus.’’
Arrow and Bonjour, among other things, are accused of "allowing operation of the subject bus by a driver that was known, or should have been known, to be fatigued’’ or "to have health problems that created a high likelihood of incapacitation while driving.’’
The suit also charges that, as is typical with coaches and school buses, the bus in question was not equipped with seatbelts.
The suit seeks damages that are unspecified, but that are greater than $75,000 per plaintiff.
The defendants have not yet answered the lawsuit. Requests for comment were placed with the company and an attorney who represents Arrow Stage Lines in unrelated litigation.
Norfolk, Neb.-based Arrow Stage Lines says it has more than 170 buses operating out of 13 cities including Las Vegas and that it is one of the largest privately-held charter bus companies in the United States.