Grand Canyon Tour Bus driver fell asleep before deadly crash 

The neglect found within this investigation shows that this company should not be operating. Shut them down before they kill an entire bus load of people and other innocent people on the road. This is infuriating!

I'm a public transit bus driver and I also used to drive school buses. I have annoyed the company I work for with how many buses I reject. I am extremely strict on what I will leave the lot with. Once when I was a school bus driver, the bus I was inspecting had an emergency window with a broken handle, so I rejected it. On the second bus, one of the levers broke off as I was testing it, so I rejected it. Ditto for the third bus. On the fourth bus, the manager secretly called me and said, "Don't pre-trip it. If it looks okay, just take it." I pre-tripped it anyway. I thought, "I'll be damned if I end up on the news because I listened to you." As for falling asleep at the controls, transportation companies need to do a better job at checking if you have sleep apnea. It costs $400 out of pocket to have a test done to even _find out_ if you have sleep apnea. If you do, it's an additional $500 out of pocket for the CPAP machine. At any point in time, the insurance company can just decide not to cover you anymore, so you must show proof that you were using it for at least 4 hours per night. Also, bus companies in general take advantage of the law. You must be clocked out for 8 hours per day. Most companies interpret that as, "Clock out at 12:00 midnight, then come back at 8:00 in the morning." If you're wondering how you can have time to get 8 hours of sleep, if some of that time is spent driving home, eating dinner, getting ready for work, eating breakfast and driving to work, well...

Why does it take 5 months to fight to get a crash report? Who is gatekeeping all this information?

Sue them out of existence

Always always always wear your seatbelt on those buses. People have a false sense of security in those big things

Commercial drivers are being pushed harder, to drive longer, and take more risks, for less money. These accidents are preventable. But unless the most obvious safety issue is addressed, driver fatigue, these accidents WILL keep happening.

As a retired truck driver, the company needs to be held accountable. There are rules about drivers hours of service and standards maintenance of the vehicles. The state needs to put that company out of business.

It’s the company that pressures the drivers into doing this. If you don’t go along with it, they cut your hours down to something you can’t live on.

The tour bus industry has been like this for decades now. They cut corners on maintenance such as brakes, tires and hiring unqualified drivers. The DOT sometimes shuts them down and they just get replaced by another operator and are out on the road again. Don't set foot on one if you value your life and limb.

The bus company needs to cough up some serious money for these people's suffering.

greyhound bus driver i sat behind kept slapping his leg for an hour, i knew it was to keep himself awake. def it's a problem

I used to drive for a nation wide company that transports railroad crews, many the time I was ordered to drive over hours and was threatened with being fired if I refused to do the trip. Many was the times I would report a tire worn out or windshield wipers not working or even headlights out and was told to still use the van, Most railroad crew transport companies are the same way.

Amazing! Out of CA with the strictest rules in the country. The CA DOT needs to be held accountable as well.

I was in a terrible accident in 1988 when a dump truck pulling a backhoe ran a red light and ran over my small car. The POS driver was an illegal alien with no license or insurance. He ran and made it back to Mexico. Of course the cops never even looked for him. I was in the hospital for 6 months and I am still recovering. I had no one to sue and three young children. I was lucky to survive but I have not had a pain-free day since 1988. Driving illegally can have serious consequences.

50 FT. to the parking lot, you're sleepy...what do you do?

I'm a truck driver semi truck driver and a bus driver has the same rules if the driver did a pre trip inspection that bus would have been in the shop getting repairs rather than the bus on the road

The big responsible is the owner and manager they have to know who they contract to drive,sometimes they force drivers to make double shifts,and the driver have to know his limits and he have so many life in his hands

American Transportation Services needs to be fined out of business. The driver should be doing prison time for manslaughter and attempted murder. People should be able to look up safety reports for tour bus services BEFORE utilizing their services. This alone could help save lives and/or prevent life changing injuries. Amazing one can look up reviews for eye drops but not be able to find safety reports for something that puts their life on the line.

Weigh Station should start inspecting these buses. As a truck driver there standards on how much we can drive and work. The company have multiple violations regarding HOS should be flagged down.

I hope the victims read this. They should also be suing the state & or whoever is giving out said violation’s! 161 in 6 months all safety violations! And over worked drivers. Pretty much says that it’s a waste of our tax money to even inspect these busses. That makes 26.833 violations a month if you see it that way. Why did they NOT shut them down. Is this what it takes, before they actually think of people’s safety??? Consistently overworking employees & lack of maintenance on the busses & falsifying log books. Over & over. They should also sue the owner of said company. God bless all of the passengers. How many violations does it take before the transportation board decides to do something about it????? This is very sad & should have never happened. My condolences to the family that lost their granddaughter. I hope the kid can recover well without loosing too much use and feeling. He will remember it every day he sees his scars. Sad how the ones in charge actually really try to protect the innocent.

Imagine all the poorly maintained vehicles on the road, not “regulated” by a company or a “professional” driver. Just regular irresponsible people.

Lots of times the day prior, the drivers are doing a local city tour of Las Vegas usually until 10 or 11pm. Some of these drivers are forced to get up at 4 or 5am, Pick up groups from their respected hotels to take people to the Grand Canyon West Rim. DOT Inspectors are usually at the Grand Canyon West Rim unnanounced. Had the bus made it safely to the customer drop-off point, DOT Wouldve pulled that bus for inspection and put it out of service.

They should make the drivers rest before the trips

Why are those buses still operating? Who is letting those buses continue to operate. Maybe, follow the money trail.

That poor girl

Went on the west rim Grand Canyon bus tour a year ago, now looking through records to see what company we used. Our driver talked constantly the entire trip, we all knew he was alert and awake. Back then it was slightly annoying that he never shut up, but now people should hope for a talkative driver.

"It was good until it wasn't" words of a real Maryland woman

I don’t know much about tour bus rates, but I can only imagine as a professional driver myself that the company probably overcharges their customers to cover the cost of said violations because it’s a company’s choice to keep letting violators slide and to keep revenue flowing, that should be something to investigate. What a shame, prayers to all who were affected by this tragedy

Thanks for reporting! This is the first I heard about this accident, the Las Vegas news don’t report on these occurances and keep them very quiet. My condolences to the victims.

Being a truck driver for over 40 years and takes my job seriously, this should of never happened. Ignoring all of the safety regulations.

Wow tragic I hadn’t heard about this from bliss to horror in an instant yeah I like to be behind the wheel or not on the road May those injured heal well

Same happened to my mom aunt and I we were coming back from the grand cannon I approached her told her I saw you falling asleep I sat beside her and talked all the way down ,half way down at there rest stop she changed and another man drove us the rest of the way down scared me half to death , I’m so sorry rip to any that lost there life’s

Bless that young ladies heart ❤️

Holy cow, my mom was just there a few weeks ago..... 😩 I hope and pray for everyone's healing from this. So sad.... 😞

That is horrific! Poor people.

That driver is 100% responsible! He should be in prison. He drove illegally and the company allowed that needs to be held accountable!!

Typical tour bus company...

Good luck mother and son. Hope he recovers fully.

This reminds of the limousine crash years ago. That family loss several family members. I will never forget that family 😞🤍 Rest in Peace Landry 🕊️

67 isn't too old to drive, what happened could have happened regardless of the driver's age.

Never give up and keep pushing because what they did was wrong. So sorry for the loss of that young beautiful girl.

Doesn't make sense why did roll over because if tire goes out in bac wont make roll over unless front tire goes out then that would cause roll over

And now the poor young guy will be crippled for life Anyone whos injured a leg or knee knows what its like

Praying 🙏

Thanks for your hard work

Dang!!!!

This is happening to often🥺

The legal system is a joke. I was in a car accident in 1997 in Arizona with my parents. The guy who hit us, killed my Mom. He got a lesser sentence thanks to my dad's forgiveness for how young he was. A month later the same guy ran another stop sign and hit a cop. Again, he got away with breaking his probation rules and should have been in jail a lot longer.

Ohhhhhhh myyyyyy!😢 Prayers for the many families involved in this incident... Aside from driving for yourself and waiting for your relatives to have day off or on vacation to drive you around, the tour bus is the best to go to places you wanna visit in America. . .it is a huge country. .i did try tour bus from NY - NJ - Delaware - Maryland - Virginia - Washington, etc and back to NY. . One of the best bus tour experience... Then my uncle F and auntie J booked me for a tour bus from LA - Sta. Barbara - San Francisco - Yosemite National Park and back tp LA...My best tour bus experience coz i did notay😅 And i wish to try other bus tours in the future. . .and hope tour bus companies will improve for the better...

There’s a difference between being older and being qualified to drive your personal car , I’m 76 and being qualified for a bus load of passengers!

5 months to get a public crash report..so many wrong doings here.

Great work, ABC15.

Complacency. Plain and simple. You can never let your guard down when people's lives are in your hands.

Everyone blaming the driver as if he really had a choice. If he declined to drive that shift I can guarantee you he would have been severely punished and/or fired by the company. The company bears 100% of the blame for allowing him to drive in excess of what the regulations stated.

I just love the company's attorney response. We can't talk about it because we respect the victims..... Well you know my feeling is if they respected they're passengers they would have had a mechanically sound bush without bald tires.. And a driver that hadn't been awake for seventy hours.

Let’s be real. We need vehicle maintenance laws for EVERYONE on the road along with harsher laws for fatigued and distracted driving for EVERYONE if we want to prevent fatalities and injuries on our roads. One small business being sued out of thousands operating in this country is not going to change anything. We all need to be accountable for safe driving practices. But this news report is eye opening as I will think twice about taking a tour bus and will definitely pay attention to the condition of the bus and driver.

We took this tour once and one thing that I remember that scared me was the driver was going out if the lane constantly. He looked really tired.

Did he fall asleep or have a blockage in blood vein going to his brain? I done that twice before suffering a stroke not realizing what was wrong with me!!! ❤❤❤

I agree with the people on the bus and I pray for all of them for healing to keep going.

💔🕊

As a former bus driver we are to inspect our busses before leaving the yard or terminal. Drivers have a clipboard and an inspection chart to be filled out before departure including millage. And after a driver has completed their shift a return inspection and final millage is filled out. then that log is handed in daily to the shift supervisor. Why that guy left the bus yard with a bald tire with the steel core exposed is beyond me. All drivers have flashlights on the bus if the guy left before sunrise. Unless someone was using recapped tires? And the recapped tire peeled off. People see recaps all torn into pieces on highways especially in summer. But they are not allowed to be used on busses. Front and rear tires on busses have to be replaced with brand new tires.

This is why I left my last company...they would try and put vehicles on the road that were unsafe...I refused multiple dispatches due to finding faulty equipment on pre trip inspections...Many companies talk a good game on "safety" but really don't care as long as the load goes out

Good reporting

Everytime I used a bus, I try to sit closer to the driver and engage with him/her as to keep them awake. It gives me peace of mind knowing that they are awake while driving.

Add to the fact that most people riding in buses never use the seatbelts.

I was on a tour bus about 4 yrs ago. Out on the highway, the driver suddenly swerved to the shoulder, slammed on the brakes and stopped. He then got out of his seat and pooped on the stairs leading out of the bus. Then he got back in his seat and continued driving. We drove for 40 minutes to the next town, and had to smell those poops the whole time. It was awful. Then we all scrambled off the bus and I stepped in the poop, almost slipping, and it ruined my flip flops.

Too much stress and anxiety is causing many deaths

I would look into the manufacturer of that bus. There should not be serious injuries in a bus like that rolling onto its side in a parking lot. The emergency exit windows must have come open as the bus rolled.

Sue the hell out of the Bus company and shut them down.

Kyan You will be OK. Same injury same place on my leg and you will not loose your freedom or sport. Take heart, it takes a couple of years. And it helps if you were athletic before, which I bet you were, so don't panic.🧡

What was the name of the bus company so I can avoid it?

We went on one of these tours in 2019 on the other side of The Grand Canyon. It was part of a package for The Train that travels through the state park. So, if they hire the bus company, does that make them responsible?

These people who drive these buses are like psycho the way they drive! I drove truck and was taking a left on another highway and psycho bus driver in a hurry passes me on the left while I’m making a left hand turn. I have seen a lot of bus crashes in my time and why they are not doing background checks and watching these kind of people.

As a limousine operator, I'm telling you that driver should never be allowed to drive a commercial vehicle ever again and this company should be shut down permanently. Laws are AFU in this country

I was thinking about doing this tour in Las Vegas smh

The presumption of safety when you leave your house is as solid as you presumption of your privacy.

Wow this is really frightening- I'm sure some people were asleep and woke up to horror! 😮

After hearing this about a tour bus, it makes me NEVER want to take a tour bus anywhere.

Please show a picture of the driver.

I took that same tour and thank God that bus didn't go over the cliff on the way to the Sky Walk. Grand Canyon is no place for negligent behavior!

1.7k people liked that the driver fell asleep at the wheel

Out of compliance with his log book

I'm pretty sure we rode on one of their busses abut 10 years ago. We stayed in Las Vegas and the bus picked us up outside the hotel. The bus we had broke down and overheated so they had to load us onto one of the other busses and wait for it to cool off. I wondered then about their maintenance records.

Why is this transportation company is still operating?

Nice leg big buddy ! You are a tough young man ! I understand your “ blocking things out “ . Hey , it happens . So pleased with you getting on with your life ! Good man . Terrible this wreck happened , but it did -- I hope for big compensation for you and your folks . Be a good guy ! You can do this - Bob , in Florida .

The tire did not blow and cause the bus to roll over. It was the driver. Tire tread being below DOT specs has nothing to do with it. Because it's the drivers responsibility to make sure the bus was safe to drive. He didn't report the tire being bad and allow them to change it out. That's on him. Anything else that may have been wrong with the bus and not repaired before leaving the terminal is also all on him for operating an unsafe vehicle. His working over hours and "nodding off" is all on him as well. He could/should have told the dispatcher he was too tired, and over hours to drive. That's also on him.

If criminal charges can't be laid the company should be sued out of existence! My heart goes out to the families and friends of the passengers. ABC15 Arizona you rock!

Shameful how victims get treated 😢

Why is it that transport drivers have restrictions on how long they are allowed to drive, but bus drivers have not. this company should be shut down, after so many infractions, a person was killed on what was supposed to be a good tour. This is so sad, and he should not be allowed to drive again.

I would also go after County Code for not enforcing the violations. They knew about it but didn't do anything.

"If memories were all I had, I'd rather drive the bus" Sue their ass off. Thanks for the video. Bless all.

That’s exactly why I always drive myself I don’t ever do stupid stuff like that

It is so common for tour busses to continue to do business even though they have a ton of safety violations. If you have an F in food grading you're shut down. If you have an F in transportation, you still get to operate. What's wrong with this picture? Truck drivers are literally fined when they go beyond their hours of work. Why aren't bus drivers?

When the money is hard to come by this is the result… overworked and underpaid never creates a safe working environment.

Why report something that already happened that we can do nothing about but trigger our stress and anxiety

I’m surprised they didn’t blame a truck driver for this

I drove for Greyhound. Mandatory on call runs. They fired me for being too sleepy to take a run.

so their attorneys couldn't get the report?

Negligence on top of negligence on top of more negligence.

No names for the owners of the bus company. No name for the driver who fell asleep. Multiple safety violations. Let me guess: Not native U.S. citizens.