NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS 2004

Seward bus crash case is settled
February 21, 2004

Families of the four people killed three years ago in a Seward school bus crash, along with relatives of most of the injured, settled their legal fights with the state, Norfolk schools and an Omaha contractor.

Attorney General Jon Bruning said Friday that Nebraska had agreed to pay a total of $3.07 million in settlements with 19 of 21 families who filed and followed through with claims against the state for deaths or injuries suffered in the Oct. 13, 2001, crash.

Details of the settlements between those families, contractor Vrana & Sons and Norfolk Public Schools could not be released because of a privacy agreement. Bruning said the state's portion of the settlement was less than half of the total settlement.

Family members, reached Friday, said they hope attention from the settlement will lead to safer streets, particularly construction zones like where the bus crashed.

"Our goal for this whole thing, in lieu of having our child back, is making sure it never, ever happens again," said Steve Prescott, whose son Ben, 14, died in the wreck.

Bruning said he and the families wanted to "close this chapter" in the state's history. He expressed sorrow for the losses of life but said the state accepts no responsibility in the crash. He also said Seward bus driver Joshua Smith should shoulder more of the blame.

If officials felt the state had done no wrong, they would not have offered to pay, said James Schaefer, Smith's lawyer. Also, he said, if Smith were responsible, families would have sued him.

Smith, a 22-year-old college student at the time of the crash, has repeatedly declined opportunities to comment. Schaefer has been negotiating a possible settlement of his lawsuit against the state, he said.

The other person yet to settle is Miranda Judds, a passenger whose records were delayed. She was expected to reach agreement soon with the state, Bruning said.

The state portion of settlements in the deaths ranged from $38,000 to $118,000, officials said. Those figures were affected by some families' larger shares of a $5 million settlement that 15 families of bus riders reached last year with the Seward school district.

Officials said the state's settlement funds would most likely come from the state Department of Roads' general budget. The department was one of several groups the National Transportation Safety Board labeled as responsible for the crash.

The 78-passenger school bus, carrying 31 people from a band competition at Omaha Burke High School, swerved to avoid what NTSB officials described as either an optical illusion or actual encroachment into its lane by a Norfolk High School bus.

Smith lost control. The bus hit a guardrail, a section of which federal investigators said was improperly repaired by Vrana & Sons and was poorly inspected by state and federal roads officials.

The bus toppled from West Dodge Road into West Papillion Creek. Four people, three students and a parent, died from crash-related injuries, while 27 were injured.

Families of 23 victims, including the four who lost loved ones and survivors with injuries ranging from scrapes and bruises to severe brain injury, filed state claims seeking up to $37 million.

Two families withdrew claims. Settlement talks, mediated by Omaha lawyer John Brownrigg, picked up speed after the Feb. 10 vote on findings by the NTSB, whose report offered what Bruning called damaging expert testimony.

Among those findings were that state roads officials should have engineered the construction zone near the bridge with lanes wider than 10.5 feet, speeds slower than 45 mph and that its inspectors should have caught the poorly repaired railing.

Also mentioned in the report as factors in the crash were the guardrail and Smith's relative inexperience driving the Thomas Built bus.

Bruce Smith, a lawyer who represented six families that settled with the state, said families were as pleased as could be expected.

"All the people in this case were reasonable," Bruce Smith said, adding that families want the NTSB's safety recommendations followed.

Philip Bader, who lost son Eric, 17, in the crash, declined comment Friday, saying he wanted some semblance of closure. Jon Kohlmeier, who lost wife Tracey, 40, also declined comment.

Each of the families who settled could receive money from the state by May, officials said. The Business and Labor Committee is expected to vote Monday to send the claims to the full Legislature, at which time individual settlements should become public.

The state keeps less than $250,000 in reserve for lawsuits or large claims, said Laura Peterson, the state's risk manager. The Legislature must approve all claims of $50,000 or more.

"The Legislature hasn't set a policy of setting up a reserve," she said in a recent interview. "They've handled it much more pay-as-you-go."

Lawmakers could agree to pay the full amount of the settlement in one chunk or could arrange a payment schedule, depending on settlement details.

Even if driver Joshua Smith and Judds receive the combined $3.2 million they seek, it wouldn't severely damage the Department of Roads' $650 million budget.

"There are no separate pots of money," said Monte Fredrickson, deputy director of engineering for the roads department. "It's pretty obvious that we're not going to stop plowing snow. We have essential services we provide that will be maintained."

Families like the Prescotts hope the loss of funds will force legislators and roads officials to look more closely at federal safety recommendations. They also want officials to consider added measures, like seat belts on school buses.

"As parents, we fell victim to an assumption that school buses are innately safe modes of transportation," Steve Prescott wrote after the NTSB's report. "They are not. We have regretted that assumption every day since our son Benjamin boarded the band bus."

BY AARON SANDERFORD

Note:  In this accident the bus, driven by an inexperienced driver, entered a work zone with narrowed lanes.  A bus coming the other way caused driver to lose control as he tried to compensate for tight fit.  He hit a barrier, lost control, went over a bridge railing, the bus fell and landed on its roof.  I do not have details on how the 4 were killed but it is reasonable to assume that passenger injuries were caused or exaggerated by lack if restraint.

The State paid 3.07 million enough to equip 3 thousand new buses with seat belts - and that was less than half of the total cost. 

And three kids and one adult are dead.

Arthur L. Yeager, DMD, MMH  

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