Bus Driver Sued in Fatal Ski-Trip Crash : He Drove Longer Than Law Allows Without Rest, Report Says

Sixteen current and former Orange County students who were injured in a Utah bus accident that killed two pupils during an Orange County school-sponsored ski trip have sued the bus driver and six others, alleging negligence.

Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that bus driver Samuel Lee Payton, 35, of Compton fell asleep at the wheel and had been driving without rest or food far in excess of the length of time allowed under federal regulations, according to Chris Russell, lawyer for the 16 plaintiffs in the civil complaint filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court. Transportation safety board officials were unavailable to confirm Russell’s account late Monday.

Russell said that there is some information about the safety board’s investigation in a safety board report which he has obtained, but that the agency’s conclusions about Payton are in a more recent safety board document. Russell said he discussed the latter document with an NTSB official during a telephone conversation.

Police said at the time of the accident that Payton apparently had fallen asleep at the wheel, and they issued a misdemeanor citation for homicidal negligence against him.

Payton pleaded no contest to a reduced charge involving unsafe operation of a motor vehicle and paid a small fine, according to Utah Highway Patrol Trooper David Excell.

Friday’s lawsuit is the third and most comprehensive lawsuit filed in connection with the April 21, 1984 accident. Previously, an adult chaperon injured in the crash filed suit, as did a Mission Viejo man whose son died.

Payton’s bus spun out of control, struck the median on Interstate 15 and rolled over.

Killed in the crash were Byron Jack Hearne, 15, and Amy George, 16. George’s family has not filed a lawsuit in connection with the accident.

Other defendants in Friday’s lawsuit are Pinetree Transportation Co., doing business as California Charters Inc., the Boy Scouts of America, who co-sponsored the trip, Motor Coach Industries, which manufactured the bus, Houseman Bus Sales, and the Irvine and Capistrano Unified school districts.