CHP Finds No Defects on Bus That Crashed

A Laidlaw Transit bus that flipped on a freeway embankment and injured 30 junior high school students was in “perfectly good working order” and had no mechanical problems, the California Highway Patrol concluded Thursday.

A team of CHP motor carrier specialists have finished inspecting the bus, which rolled onto its roof Jan. 14 with 42 students aboard less than a mile from Standley Junior High School, according to Sgt. Clayton Carter of the CHP.

The CHP conclusion suggests that driver error was the cause of the accident.

The driver, Manuel Arevalo, 23, told The Times after the accident that the bus had frequent engine problems and that he had reported drops in engine power and oil pressure 14 times between Christmas and the accident date.

Arevalo, who has been suspended with pay, also said that he lost engine power at the time of the accident and was afraid that he would lock the brakes and skid if he rode them too hard.

But Carter said his office has no record of any complaints on Arevalo’s daily inspection reports, which are forwarded to Laidlaw Transit and the CHP.

“We haven’t found anything to the effect that he complained about the bus,” Carter said. “There’s nothing on his inspection sheet, nothing on that form that said the engine was running rough. There should be some record of that paperwork, but there isn’t.”

The CHP motor carrier specialists “found the bus in perfectly good working order,” Carter said. “They have doubts about whether the engine stalled, as Mr. Arevalo says. As far as the vehicle goes, it was in full operational order.”

The air brakes on the bus were working at the time of the accident, Carter said.

Had the air brakes malfunctioned, Carter said, the bus had a backup emergency brake system that would have caused it to stop.

“He could have lost engine power and all the air pressure, and the emergency brake would have been activated,” he said. “Whether the engine worked or not is irrelevant. He could have easily stopped the bus.”

The motor carrier team consists of inspectors who certify commercial trucks and school buses for the CHP. The CHP also certifies licenses of school bus drivers.

The team is expected to release a final report in several weeks and forward the results to the city attorney’s office, where prosecutors will decide whether to press criminal charges against Arevalo.

Arevalo could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Laidlaw spokeswoman Carla Bruno said company officials met with CHP inspectors Tuesday and were told it would be 40 days before the investigation is complete.

“We will have no comment until the investigation is over and we see the results,” she said.

At Standley Junior High School, most of the 42 students who rode the bus that day are back at school, Vice Principal Saul Wolf said.

Two students had slight spinal fractures, one had an arm and wrist fracture, one had surgery on her jaw, and a fifth had reconstructive surgery on his hand and wrist.

“Most of the students are back at school,” Wolf said. “A few are still at home and mending. When you get knocked around like that, you can hurt for several weeks. Most everyone is doing OK.”

School nurse Leslie Ochs said some of the students families’ have retained attorneys and some are considering a move from the school, although nobody has transferred yet. She said 15 students have not yet returned to school.

“On the advice of attorneys, some are seeing specialists and starting physical therapy, and they have not come back to school,” she said. “Students are at home with various sprains and strains and emotional trauma.”