US shuts down SkyExpress buses after fatal crash
Plain Dealer – Federal regulators have shut down East Coast discount bus service SkyExpress after a crash in Virginia that killed four people and sent more than 50 others to hospitals.
The U.S. Department of Transportation issued an unsatisfactory safety rating and prohibited Charlotte, N.C.-based SkyExpress from operating interstate transportation. It said in a statement Tuesday the bus company violated multiple federal safety regulations.
A SkyExpress bus headed to New York City swerved off northbound Interstate 95 early Tuesday, hit an embankment and overturned about 30 miles north of Richmond.
The driver, Kin Yiu Cheung, was charged with reckless driving and police say his fatigue was a factor in the crash. Federal documents show the company has a particularly poor safety record.
A spokeswoman for SkyExpress did not immediately respond to messages for comment about the so-called our-of-service order issued by the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. A spokeswoman for the Transportation Department also did not immediately return calls for more details on how long the ban would be in effect.
