SAN QUINTIN, Mexico – Eight people were killed and eight others seriously injured in a bus crash about 200 miles south of Ensenada early Thursday
morning, Mexican authorities said.
The 6:15 a.m. crash happened on the transpeninsular highway between Cataviña and El Rosario. The bus, from the “Aguila” line, had 14 passengers and a
35-year-old driver aboard.
Mexican authorities said the bus driver was speeding when he lost control. He tried to regain control but the rear end of the vehicle struck the
tractor-trailer and overturned on the highway, officials said.
Paramedics and the Mexican Red Cross helped the injured, including the drivers of both vehicles. Some were brought to Ensenada for treatment,
including one boy who had to be flown to the hospital because of his injuries, according to Agencia Fronteriza de Noticias, a Mexican news wire
service.
The other victims were taken to local hospitals.
Mexican officials said those killed are: Orlando Garcia Sosa, 30; Silvestre Zamora Garcia, 56; Jesus Alberto Saldana David, 32; Guillermo Sumaya
Zamora, 67; Tarik Eliu Saldana Palacios, 9 months; Maria de los Angeles Remoro Castro, 50; Ofelia Esteves, 55 and Jose Antonio Maldonado Ceseña, 40,
all of Mexico.
Breaking News Team: (619) 293-1010; breaking@uniontrib.comDavid K - 12-29-2006 at 09:47 PM
Terrible indeed.
Thanks for the English version of the news...
'Local Hospitals'? That's a laugh!
Maybe some kind of better regulation on bus speeds and driver training... OR, adding a foot to each side of the highway as promissed shortly after it
was made when the narrowness without shoulders was criticized.bajajazz - 12-31-2006 at 01:38 PM
Because I have a Senile Card which entitles me to a 50 percent discount on the ticket price, I use the bus at least twice a year to go north for
routine medical checkups, so this news is of concern to me. I'd be willing to bet no lives would've been lost if the passengers had been wearing
seatbelts. Why are buses (especially school buses!) exempt from the seatbelt requirement?DianaT - 12-31-2006 at 02:16 PM
We have traveled all over Mexico on first and second class busses over the years and it is always an experience. We have had some close calls, but
fortunately, no accidents---we have, however, sat on the side of the road while the bus was repaired with a bucket of parts and a few tools. Then
they just driver even faster than usual to make up time.
Having the two bus drivers is a good idea, but once we were on the Devil's Backbone, an incredible steep road from Durango to Matzalan with a sleepy
bus driver---the other driver was fast asleep in the front seat as were the other passengers, and we were frozen with fear.
Another time we had two young drivers headed toward Navajoa, Sinaloa, and after they ran a small truck off the road, and almost snuffed out a VW bug,
the passengers threatened mutiny---with the music the drivers were playing and by their actions, we decided they were playing, "Quien es mas macho."
Years ago they tried a new tactic to slow down the drivers---a buzzer. But it was an overnight bus and all it meant was that we could not sleep
because everytime the bus driver exceeded the speed, the buzzer went off---and it happened on a regular basis.
With speed, and long hours, it really is amazing that there are not more accidents when one considers the number of busses in Mexico.
My heart goes out to the families of this awful tragedy.
Diane
PS Everytime I hear that it is too expensive to put seat belts on school busses, I want to scream.
[Edited on 12-31-2006 by jdtrotter]Summanus - 12-31-2006 at 02:30 PM
Diane, my feeling exactly. I drive a large schoolbus from time to time in my retirement and we have seatbelts for both drivers and passengers.
Making it mandatory to use them is something else. Perhaps state by state law is different regarding buses and seatbelts. That would be something to
react to...bring a vote on...religiously....until it was law.
We have been on buses around the world that would make anybody cringe in fear. Omnibus de Mexico killed the driver and messed a lot of us up
badly...The Afghan Pass is a beaut...anywhere in India is mostly suicidal...The Devils Road in Brazil claims about 20 fatalities per month.
Pay Your Money and Take your Chances.
MrBillM - 12-31-2006 at 05:14 PM
I have NEVER ridden on a Mexican Bus and, unless forced to, I never will.
I HAVE driven thousands of miles in Baja and shared the road with hundreds of Mexican Buses and found that the vast Majority, maybe ALL, are NUTS.
The speed and manner in which they navigate those highways is DOOM waiting to occur.
Anyone who steps onto one of those buses is taking a chance. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I would prefer to take chances where the return
is higher and the risk is lower.thebajarunner - 12-31-2006 at 08:26 PM
If we are to subscribe to these theories, then we should never drive the carreterra, since the buses will be coming at us, with nothing to prevent
disaster...
I ride the bus from D.F. to Puebla on a regular basis, smooth, fast, very efficient, would never consider any other way to get there...Phil S - 1-1-2007 at 07:55 AM
Bill. Last year we spent two weeks traveling "out of Mexico City" on buses. Was a very pleasant experience & I would recommend it to any friends
that don't want to 'drive' those highways. Convenient. Super Clean. T.V. What more could you ask for? We're ready to do it again. When we would
spend some time, in an area, we found the stations to be located in the cities/towns where very cheap cabs could get you to hotels for a couple
dollars. We loved Puebla, and San Miguel de Allende.
Choices and Logic
MrBillM - 1-1-2007 at 10:25 AM
I was not counseling Anyone Else regarding the advisability of Their riding those buses, simply pointing out that I wouldn't, given
my own experience AND that, when such an accident happens, my reaction is one big "OH WELL". They went in with their eyes open. So
Long. No mourning for those who die in those circumstances.
My most "remembered" (if not the most dangerous) incident regarding those Bus Drivers happened one afternoon as I was returning North on Mex 5 at
Laguna Salada. There was highway work going on in that area and the entire stretch before, across and beyond Laguna Salada was loose gravel. As I
drove North in my pristine Dodge Truck, I looked behind and saw the San Felipe Bus closing quickly in a huge cloud of gravel. Determined that I was
going to lose my paint job, I started accelerating and the Bus kept closing until I reached 90 mph. The cloud I was throwing up directly onto the Bus
Windshield appeared to be horrific, but he seemed determined to get around me, probably by this time, to get revenge. He never got around. Maybe by
that time, he couldn't see through the windshield. I suddenly slowed and pulled quickly off the road at Campo Sonora and he went roaring by, leaning
on his horn.
I've yet to see Greyhound do that.
The "Faulty" logical extension to not Driving on the same highway ignores the FACT they we are, indeed, exercising a degree of control via our own
Driving habits.
[Edited on 1-1-2007 by MrBillM]Summanus - 1-1-2007 at 10:50 AM
I have been on 3 bus trips in Mexico.
2 had accidents.
I don't like the odds.Bob H - 1-1-2007 at 11:06 AM
I think I read somewhere that seatbelts will be installed on all school buses in California starting this year, 2007.
Bob HSummanus - 1-1-2007 at 12:16 PM
