Report on Angel Bus Crash to Be Sent to Safety Board

Bill Walker, National Transportation Safety Board investigator, said Tuesday he expects his report on the May 21 bus accident that injured Angel Manager Buck Rodgers and 12 others to reach the board’s Washington, D.C., office this week.

Walker said he could not reveal his assessment of the accounts collected from the players, coaches and staff members about the bus, which swerved off the road and into a grove of trees alongside the New Jersey Turnpike in Deptford Township, N.J.

Walker, who works for the safety board’s Atlanta office, said bus driver Carl Venetz’s claim that he drove off the road to avoid hitting debris was not substantiated by the various accounts.

Venetz, of Stanhope, N.J., was charged with careless driving but has not yet appeared in court, according to Kathy Lorenzo, safety officer for Kevah Konner Bus Lines. She said Venetz’s first court date was postponed, but she did not know the rescheduled date.

“There’s no big secrets (in the report) other than statements we got from ballplayers as far as there being no erratic driving before the bus went off the road,” Walker said. “No debris was found in the roadway, and there was no erratic driving before the evasive maneuver. As far as analyzing what happened, I’m not at liberty to say.”

Venetz’s court date and the safety board’s findings could influence legal action being contemplated by those injured in the accident. Rodgers, who suffered a broken right wrist, smashed right elbow, fractured left knee and broken ribs in the accident, is hoping to return to managing Friday.

Others who suffered serious injuries have long since recovered: Trainer Ned Bergert (bruised kidney), infielder Bobby Rose (sprained left ankle), infielder Alvin Davis (bruised kidney) and traveling secretary Frank Sims, who suffered broken ribs and a bruised kidney.

Walker said the report would be grouped with highway-accident reports and would be presented at a safety board hearing. That hearing probably won’t he held for several months.

“Then the board members say, ‘That was the probable cause,’ ” Walker said. “Other than the fact (the bus) had a bunch of ballplayers on it, this wouldn’t have gotten so much attention.”