Injured Irving Bus Crash Victim Files Negligence Lawsuit Against Bus Owner, Driver

Dallas lawyer Frank L. Branson: Fatal crash of Cardinal Coach charter could have been prevented

DALLAS – Lawyers for an 83-year-old Tarrant County woman who suffered serious injuries in an April 11 bus crash have filed a lawsuit charging that bus owner Cardinal Coach Line and its driver Loyd Earl Rieve were negligent and responsible for the one-vehicle wreck.

According to the lawsuit filed in Dallas County state district court by The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson, Mansfield, Texas-based Cardinal Coach Line and its driver did not take measures to prevent the crash. The bus was carrying elderly passengers for a day trip to the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Okla., when it crashed on an Irving highway. Two passengers were killed and 41 others were treated for injuries at area hospitals.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Dorothy Miles, who suffered a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, a lacerated liver, trauma to her head, and serious injuries to her arm and hand.

The wreck occurred shortly after 9 a.m. on April 11 as the bus was northbound on State Highway 161. As the bus approached the Belt Line Road intersection, passengers reported hearing a loud pop before the bus lost control. The motor coach crashed into a plastic barrier on the right-hand shoulder and skidded across the highway, turned on its side and struck the highway median. 

The bus was not equipped with passenger seat belts, and the impact from the wreck caused passengers to be violently thrown around inside the cabin. The firm’s team of investigators and design experts will review the vehicle’s design and maintenance history and will analyze crash data recovered from the vehicle’s black box data recorder.

“It’s important at this stage to do a thorough investigation to determine precisely what happened and how such tragedies can be avoided in the future,” Mr. Branson says. “Too often, charter bus companies choose profit over safety. Our mission is to determine exactly what happened and to make sure everything possible is done to make sure it never happens again.”

The lawsuit, Dorothy Miles vs. Cardinal Coach Line, Inc.; and Loyd Earl Rieve, was filed in the 44th State Judicial District Court in Dallas County.

The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson represents clients in cases involving complex product liability, catastrophic injury, commercial air crashes, professional negligence, and business torts. To learn more about Mr. Branson and his firm, visit https://flbranson.com.