Bus Was Going 78 M.P.H. Just Before Fatal Crash on I-95, Investigators Say
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: April 15, 2011

* Recommend
* Twitter
* Sign In to E-Mail
* Print
*
Reprints
* ShareClose
o Linkedin
o Digg
o Mixx
o MySpace
o Permalink
o

The bus that crashed in the Bronx last month, killing 15 passengers, was traveling as fast as it could go — 78 miles an hour — less than a minute before it flipped onto its right side and slammed into a signpost, federal investigators said on Friday.
Enlarge This Image
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

The World Wide Tour bus flipped over in the Bronx on March 12, killing 15.
Related

*
Discount Bus Industry Is Subject of Federal Safety Inquiry (April 4, 2011)
*
Official Says Bus in Crash That Killed 15 Was Speeding (March 31, 2011)
*
Bus Driver in Bronx Crash Says He Was Sober and Awake (March 24, 2011)
*
Carnage on I-95 After Crash Rips Bus Apart (March 13, 2011)

The National Transportation Safety Board said for the first time that the bus had been exceeding the speed limit on Interstate 95 just 45 seconds before it veered off the highway, according to a preliminary report by the board about the March 12 crash.

The State Police have also been studying the crash and interviewing witnesses to help the Bronx district attorney determine whether to file criminal charges against the driver of the bus, who was returning to New York from a trip to a casino in eastern Connecticut.

The driver, Ophadell Williams, 40, of Brooklyn, told investigators that a tractor-trailer passing him had swerved, forcing him to veer off the road. A truck driver contacted the police later that day to say he had seen the crash. But the report said that investigators found no evidence of any contact between his truck and the bus and that on March 22 the truck driver was cleared of any responsibility.

The safety board’s report did not reach a conclusion about the cause of the crash, which it is still investigating. In the 90 seconds before the crash, the bus traveled at different speeds, the report said, but was going 78 miles per hour within 45 seconds of the crash. The bus’s speed decreased just before the crash, the report said.

The posted speed limit on that stretch of I-95, just south of the Westchester County line, is 55 m.p.h. The report indicated that the engine of the bus was limited to a top speed of 78 m.p.h.

The only public comments by Mr. Williams about the crash have been made through his lawyers. State officials revoked his driving privileges after reports became public of Mr. Williams’s criminal record, which includes serving time in prison for convictions of manslaughter and larceny.

Howard Lee, a lawyer representing Mr. Williams, said Friday that he had not yet read the safety board’s preliminary report and so had little to say about it. But as he has in the past, Mr. Lee questioned whether speeding caused the crash. He also expressed skepticism about the decision to clear the truck driver, who he said could have played a role in the crash even if the two vehicles did not collide.

Lawyers representing some surviving passengers and relatives of victims of the crash have claimed that Mr. Williams fell asleep at the wheel before the crash, which occurred at 5:45 a.m. The bus, operated by World Wide Travel of Greater New York, a company based in Brooklyn, was returning to Chinatown in Manhattan from an overnight trip to the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn.

Mr. Williams had driven the bus to the casino the previous night. While the passengers were inside the casino, he bought a meal, then returned to the bus, ate and slept for a few hours, his lawyers have said.

The report said that none of the 33 passengers, other than Mr. Williams, could have been wearing a seat belt because his was the only one on the 12-year-old bus. It also said that there was a video camera in the front of the bus facing forward but “the system was not designed to record video information and was not operating at the time of the accident.”

The safety board said that the fateful run was one of 14 daily round-trips between New York City and the casino, which is in Uncasville. It said World Wide Travel received a “satisfactory” rating in its latest review for compliance with federal bus-safety regulations.
A version of this article appeared in print on April 16, 2011, on page A16 of the New York edition.