Bus in Crash Found Mechanically Sound
Authorities found nothing mechanically wrong with a charter bus that ran off a winding road and overturned while carrying a group of girls from an Orange County church to a retreat near Idyllwild.
“We found that (the bus) had no mechanical problems,” California Highway Patrol spokesman Craig Rentle said, noting that the investigation is continuing.
The driver, James A. Miller III, 35, of Wilmington told officers that he was lost and was looking at a map when the bus slid down the side of winding California 74. He has not been cited, Rentle said.
The bus was carrying the girls and four chaperons to a retreat at a ranch in Riverside County. Everyone survived with only minor or moderate injuries.
The bus rolled onto its side and slid down a hill, landing on a bed of boulders, the CHP said. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting its own inspection of the bus.
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