Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the proceedings.)
On October 19, 2006, Tim Stark and Olivia Stark were deposed. Their condensed depositions are referenced herein. Mr. and Mrs. Stark were passengers on the bus trip. Mr. Stark is a licensed, experienced bus driver, and he was seated directly behind defendant JONES when the incident occurred. Mr. and Mrs. STARK testified that JONES slammed on the brakes too hard, causing NANCY to fall:
Q. And you’re a bus driver?
A. I’ve been one, yes.
Q. You’re qualified to drive a bus?
A. Yes.
(Depo. of Tim Stark, pp.35:25-36:3)
“A. That would be when a car pulled in front of us, and Bobbi slammed on the brakes and Nancy fell.”
(Depo. of Olivia Stark, pp. 15: 12-13)
“A. In other words, I’ve been driving for years. The front of the bus dipped down fairly severely because he braked so hard.”
(Depo. of Tim Stark, pp. 24:14-16)
“Q. And so you’re sitting right behind the driver that morning, and you see this whole thing unfold ahead of you, and see Bobbi slam the brakes, right?
A. Yes.
Q. She could have lightly put on the brakes, and the car would have passed in front of the bus without incident?
A. Yes.”
(Depo. of Tim Stark, pp. 36:18-37:3)
Other Problems with defendant driver, Bobbi Jones:
1. On the first day of the trip, defendant Bobbi Jones parked the bus with the lights on,
causing a two-hour delay. Mr. Stark testified as follows:
“Q. Now, do you think there was about a two-hour delay getting started that morning?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall the reason for that delay?
A. Because the bus had been – – was there before I got there, and apparently, it had been parked with the lights on.
Q. Would that have been the bus driver’s responsibility?
A. Yes.”
(Depo. of Tim Stark, pp. 34:4-13)
2. On the second day of the trip, defendant Jones blew out two of the windows in the bus, making it inoperable to carry passengers, and had to get a replacement bus. Olivia Stark testified:
“Q. Was there anything unusual about his driving for the remainder of the trip?
A. Well, we had a lot of incidents this trip.
Q. What do you mean by that?
A. Well, we had where we had to put on brakes heavily, she popped the windows out on the bus.”
(Depo. of Olivia Stark, pp. 19:24-20:4)
Q. And shortly after that, she ran the bus into a sign?
A. Yes.
Q. And blew out the windows in the bus?
A. Yes.”
(Depo. of Olivia Stark, pp. 26:5-9)
Mr. Stark testified:
“Q. And the reason you got the new bus, as you understand, because the old bus had been so damaged by Bobbi?
A. Because they claimed that the law prohibited them from having us on the bus. So they gave us another bus.”
(Depo. of Tim Stark, pp. 38:8-13)
3. Defendant Jones missed a road to a farm on their bus trip. Instead of slowing down the bus and turning around, he again slammed on the brakes. Mrs. Stark stated in her deposition:
“Q. Did she step on the brakes suddenly after this incident that we’ve been talking about?
A. Yes she did.
Q. And can you tell me about that, where was it and when was it?
A. Out in the middle of nowhere, we were looking for a farm and she had passed the road, and pretty much slammed on her brake.
(Depo. of Olivia Stark, pp. 20:5-16) (See Part 5 of 6.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.