A Recap of 2018 Party Bus Accidents

Despite their less-than-stellar safety records, “party buses” and “stretch limos” remain the favored method of transporting groups of riders to a common destination..

Note that, for the purpose of this article, we will define a party bus to be any vehicle that has been modified to accommodate more passengers than the vehicle’s manufacturer intended it to carry. We will include “stretch” vehicles in this group but will exclude “full size” buses from our list.

The Party Bus Accidents

On the morning of April 5, 2018, a group of 18 Atlanta-area residents boarded a party bus belonging to Jet Executive Limo outside an Atlanta hotel for what should have been a three-hour drive to attend the opening round of the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, GA. According to passengers, the driver appeared to be having difficulty staying in the proper lane from the time the vehicle entered traffic. Fifteen miles from their destination, the driver drifted onto the highway median, and then overcorrected. All aboard the bus received injuries, some serious enough to require hospitalization.

The bus driver, 61-year-old Steven Hoppenbrouwer, was later indicted on 2 charges of driving while impaired by a prescription medication, 1 count of failing to maintain a driving lane, and 16 counts of causing serious injury by a motor vehicle. Earlier, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had declared Hoppenbrouwer to be an "imminent hazard to public safety" and revoked his Commercial Driver’s License.

On the evening of May 1, 2018, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) student, 20-year-old Polly Miranda Rogers, fell through a window on a party bus owned by Charlotte Party Charters and was struck by at least 2 other vehicles after she impacted the street. According to police investigators, the bus had been chartered by members of UNCC’s chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity to transport fraternity members and guests to a Charlotte nightclub.

Toxicology samples obtained at Rogers’ autopsy revealed that her blood alcohol level was 0.19, twice the minimum level needed to convict on a charge of DUI/DWI in North Carolina. The vehicle, which was owned by Charlotte Party Charters, was later found to have no insurance and, on the evening of Roger’s death, was displaying “fictitious” license plates.

On August 10, 2018 a GMC Savana transport van owned by the Kittery (Maine) Community Center ran off the road on Interstate 95 near Greenland, New Hampshire

A camp counselor, 21-year-old John Guy, was driving the bus when the accident occurred. After the accident, it was learned that Guy had a medical history of epilepsy and that his driving record included two charges of speeding, two reckless driving charges, and three charges of driving with a suspended license. Kittery officials admitted that Guy’s driving record was not checked prior to his employment but blamed that failure on an administrative error

At about 1:00 p.m. on October 6, 2018 near the town of Schoharie (NY), a vehicle belonging to Prestige Limousine Services appeared to have suffered a failure of its brakes, causing the “stretch-modified” 2001 Ford Excursion to run a stop sign at a high rate of speed before crashing in restaurant parking lot. The accident claimed the lives of the vehicle’s driver, 17 passengers, and 2 bystanders. According to media reports, the accident vehicle had a history of maintenance and safety issues and was reported to be operating illegally at the time of the accident.

Nauman Hussain, who was in charge of Prestige Limousine Services during the absence of its owner (his father, Shahed Hussain), was arrested a few days later and charged with 20 counts of criminally negligent homicide.

Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on October 28, 2018, 38-year-old Kisha Latrice Marrow-Lott of Norfolk, VA was killed when she apparently lost her balance and fell through the closed door of a party bus onto I-264 in Norfolk. According to the Virginia State Police the vehicle, a modified 1998 Ford Cutaway, appeared not to have a record of safety issues and the vehicle’s driver was not charged at the scene by investigators.

Contacting a “Party Bus” Accident Lawyer

If you were injured in a party bus / stretch limo accident, we invite to contact the party bus accident lawyer at The Doan Law Firm, a nationwide personal injury law practice with offices located in major cities throughout the country.

When you contact our party bus accident lawyer, your first consultation and review of the legal options that may be available to you is always free of charge and does not obligate you to hire our firm. If you decide to file a lawsuit seeking compensation after your party bus accident injury, we are willing to assume full responsibility for all aspects of preparing your case for trail.