Bus Driver Convicted 4 Times for Speeding : One Survivor of Crash That Killed 18 Believes Coach Was ‘Going Too Fast’; Another Disagrees

The driver of a tour bus that careened into an eastern Sierra river, killing at least 18 elderly Santa Monica residents, was convicted four times for speeding--at least twice in buses--and was involved in a traffic collision and caught driving with a suspended license, all within the past 2 1/2 years, authorities said Saturday.

One of the speeding tickets was received while the driver was working for Starline Sightseeing Tours, owner of the coach that crashed Friday morning while carrying 41 Santa Monica residents home from a four-day tour of Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Reno.

One survivor said Saturday that the driver--47-year-old Ernst A. Klimeck of Glendale--appeared to be speeding when he lost control on a treacherous stretch of U.S. 395 about 80 miles south of here in California’s Mono County.

“It seemed to me he was going too fast,” 78-year-old Cecil Dryer told reporters from his hospital gurney at the Washoe Medical Center here. “To me, he was over the speed limit.”

Described as ‘Cautious’

Another survivor told reporters at the same press conference, however, that he thought the driver was proceeding safely, and characterized him as “very cautious.”

The bus skidded for about 100 yards, slammed against a rock, veered across the highway and flipped over, turning over at least three times as it tumbled down an embankment and into the cold and fast-running west fork of the Walker River, witnesses said.

At least 18 passengers were killed and 22 people, including the driver, were injured. A search for a passenger initially listed as missing was suspended Saturday, and officials said they were no longer convinced the unidentified passenger actually was aboard the bus.

Dryer said that five or 10 minutes before the accident, Klimeck appeared to nearly lose control of the coach. “We came very close to running off the road,” he said. “He was on the soft shoulder.”

Investigators on Friday had said excess speed probably caused the wreck.

At a press conference Saturday in Bridgeport, Calif., near the scene of the crash, officials of the California Highway Patrol, the Mono County Sheriff’s Department and the National Transportation Safety Board, all of which are investigating, indicated that preliminary conclusions on what caused the accident might be available this week. They added, however, it could take months to complete the inquiry.

Officials said they had found no evidence of a tire blowout or similar mechanical malfunction.

Examination of Bus

“I looked at the bus,” said CHP Cmdr. Ted Engstrom, “and I didn’t see any flat tires.”

Klimeck was listed in satisfactory condition at Washoe Medical Center in Reno and was not available for comment. California Highway Patrol investigators said they intend to interview him Monday at the latest. He has not been cited.

Starline officials Saturday defended their hiring of Klimeck, as well as their decision to retain him despite the speeding ticket he received three days before Christmas while driving one of their buses.

Michael E. Neustadt, director of tour operations for Starline, said that after an internal investigation Klimeck was “found to be a safe and competent driver.”

He said company records contained information indicating that Klimeck had received tickets twice in 1984 and once after joining the company in 1985.

“They were there,” Neustadt said of the tickets, “and we knew of his driving record.”

Engstrom, commander of the CHP’s Mono County office, declined to characterize Klimeck’s record, saying only: “He has had some violations, which include speed and a suspended license. It’s not totally clean, obviously, but I’m not going to determine whether he should not have been on the road just because of his record.”

“We’re not really trying to hide anything,” Neustadt said. “There’s no reason for us to hide information.”

Citations in Records

On Feb. 13, 1984, the earliest date Klimeck appears on computerized Department of Motor Vehicles records, he was cited for driving a car faster than 55 m.p.h. The records do not indicate the speed limit on the road where he was cited. He later was convicted in Oxnard Municipal Court, records showed.

Two weeks later, on March 1, 1984, Klimeck was cited for driving an unregistered 1975 Ford. An arrest warrant was issued after he apparently failed to appear in court on the charge, and a year later he was convicted of both violations in Downey Municipal Court, according to the records.

On June 5, 1984, Klimeck was cited for driving a commercial bus faster than 55 m.p.h. He failed to appear in court on the charge and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was later convicted in San Diego Municipal Court on the speeding charge, according to records.

Three months later, on Sept. 6, 1984, the DMV suspended Klimeck’s driver’s license, apparently because he failed to answer speeding ticket charges.

On Jan. 11, 1985, Klimeck was involved in an accident while driving a station wagon he had purchased four months earlier. The car apparently was demolished.

License Suspended, Renewed

On March 10, 1985, Klimeck was cited for driving with a suspended license and speeding. It is not clear from the record whether he was driving a bus or a truck. Records showed he was later convicted on both counts in Long Beach Municipal Court.

His driver’s license was renewed June 11, 1985.

On Dec. 22, 1985, he was cited for speeding in a bus owned by Starline and was convicted in Compton Municipal Court.

Six days later, in the same tour bus, Klimeck was stopped for what apparently was a local municipal code traffic violation. The precise nature of the violation could not be determined Saturday, officials said.

The CHP’s Engstrom, at the press conference, said he knows of no law limiting the number of times a tour bus driver could be cited for speeding before being barred from driving coaches.

“I’m sure that a company is going to look at a man’s record,” he said. “They’re going to determine whether a man is safe to drive or not.”

Engstrom declined comment, however, when asked if Klimeck had a valid license, saying it is “part of the investigation. I can’t give you that information at this time.”

Tested for Alcohol

He confirmed the driver had been given a blood alcohol test, as is routine in such accidents, but refused to reveal the results, saying again that that was “part of the investigation.”

Starline officials in two offices had identified him as Ernst, his actual first name. For reasons that were not explained, however, Klimeck’s current license lists his name as Ernest.

Checks with Department of Motor Vehicle Records on Friday of an Ernst Klimeck revealed no indications of violations, apparently supporting the company’s description of Klimeck’s record. However, the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee reported Saturday that an Ernest Klimeck had been cited for speeding four times, on three occasions in a bus.

The company subsequently confirmed that Ernst Klimeck and Ernest Klimeck are the same man.

The company released a statement late in the day, saying: “Starline will bear the expenses of transportation and funeral arrangements for the deceased as an expression of our concern and sympathy, and without admitting any liability.”

The statement promised full cooperation with investigators.

Twelve of the 22 injured remained in serious condition Saturday at six hospitals in Nevada and California. A few of the passengers felt fit enough to discuss their ordeals with reporters.

“There was one instant where we realized something was terribly wrong,” said Gifford Thrasher, 72, who joined Dryer at a press conference here. “Then the bus was rocking from one side to the other as the driver tried to get it under control. Then I recall being thrown from my seat, but I don’t remember the crash.”

Thrasher said he awoke later, apparently on the river bank, face down in the dirt. He did not know how he had gotten there.

His first thoughts were “what happened and where is Grace,” his wife. Thrasher said he finally was able to speak with his wife at another hospital Saturday morning.

Dryer and Thrasher were both on gurneys when interviewed. Tubes fed oxygen into their noses, and fluids were pumped into their arms as they spoke. Both seemed alert.

Passenger’s Viewpoint

Dryer said he thought the accident “could have been avoided.”

“My opinion--and I could be wrong--but in my opinion, it could have been avoided,” he said. “In a bus that big, you have to give it time to get on an even keel around turns. He was going so fast he didn’t have time to get it back on an even keel.”

The bus was pulling through a long S-curve when the accident occurred. The passengers set the time at 10:14 a.m., judging by the stopped watch of an injured man.

Thrasher did not share Dryer’s opinion that Klimeck was driving too fast to maintain control on the winding road.

“I don’t think he was reckless,” Thrasher said. “He was a very cautious driver, driving us up (to Reno) and driving us down. He didn’t strike me as the type of driver who would take unnecessary chances.”

There were conflicting statements by survivors about whether the bus was equipped with seat belts, and Starline officials said Saturday they could not be sure the 1985 model bus had safety belts for the passengers.

“There were seat belts,” Dryer said, “and I thanked the Lord God I didn’t have mine on. I never would have got out, and I mean that.”

‘Everything in It’

But another survivor, 71-year-old Valerie Webb, recalled from a hospital in Bishop, Calif., that there were no belts.

“It was a new bus,” said Webb, the right side of her face and forehead swollen and bruised. “It had everything in it, VCR, television--everything but seat belts. There were no seat belts. It was awful. The people were flying all over the bus, being tossed about inside and they were thrown out.”

Webb’s husband also survived, and Webb said he was sharing a room with a man who had given his window seat to his wife because she wanted to look out. She was thrown from the bus by the crash, carried downstream and was found dead.

Autopsies were being conducted Saturday, and officials released a partial list of victims’ names. Doctors at the scene said some victims died of head and chest injuries as the bus tumbled into the river, and others succumbed to hypothermia in the icy water. At least four bodies were carried far downstream by rapids.

Most of the passengers lived in the high-rise Santa Monica Christian Tower, and the remainder resided nearby.

Late in the afternoon, a list of 10 confirmed dead was posted in the lobby. As she read the list, 70-year-old Cleo Boehle discussed her reaction to reports about the bus driver’s speeding tickets.

“It makes me feel a little on the bitter side,” she said, “because with all those tickets, how could that company have allowed him to drive?”

Earlier, Steve Gottlibe, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy whose grandmother, Eleanor Gottlibe, resides in the tower, was sent out as a building spokesman to field questions from reporters outside.

“A lot of the people are taking it very well,” he said, “and I just think that the whole thing turned out very well considering the age of the people. . . . They’re all helping themselves, kind of with a peer group.”

Officials were unable by late Saturday to identify one crash victim, a woman in critical condition at the Washoe Medical Center.

Mark A. Stein reported from Reno and Peter H. King from Los Angeles. Times staff writers David Freed, Eric Malnic, William Nottingham, George Stein, Ronald B. Taylor and Nancy Wride also contributed to this story.