Canadian Bus Company Banned in U.S. After Fatal Crash

– January 09, 2013

The U.S. Department of Transportation has banned a Canadian bus company from operating in the United States after a fatal crash in Oregon that killed nine people and injured 39 others.

The accident occurred as the bus was en route to Vancouver from Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 30, when the bus skidded on a patch of ice on Interstate 84 near Pendleton, crashed through a guardrail and careened down a steep embankment.

On Tuesday, the Transportation Department said Mi Joo Tour and Travel Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia, must cease U.S. operations because the company poses an “imminent hazard to public safety.”

According to a crash investigation, the driver of the bus had worked 92 hours in the seven-day period preceding the crash – much more than the 70 hours allowed under U.S. regulations.

The Transportation Department also admonished the company for failing to administer drug and alcohol tests on the driver following the deadly crash.