July 15, 2008
Open Top Tour Bus Company Suspends Nationals Shuttles
You had to know this was coming. Open Top Sightseeing, the bus company that operates the Nationals shuttle on which two people died on Friday night when their heads hit an overpass, is suspending the service for the time being. Open Top wouldn't talk with reporters for a couple days after the accident, but their lawyer, Jim Rodio, has since spoken to the Associated Press, and this is the first time we've seen an answer to the obvious question: did the two men who died know they needed to stay seated during the entire ride? Rodio says the company instructs passengers seated on the roof of the bus to remain seated during rides. Of course, whether the passengers on this particular bus received those instructions remains to be seen. Police are investigating. Open Top is still operating its regular tour buses in D.C.
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"...whether the passengers on this particular bus received those instructions remains to be seen."
So let me see if I got this straight: it's the bus company's fault for not informing adult passengers they need to stay seated in an open vehicle while traveling on a highway?
Isn't this what the Darwin Awards are for?
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>-\ . o.
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It's pretty clear that this bus company's decision to start providing this service was taken outside the normal course of business. I'm imagine it ordinarily scouts out its route to make sure the bus never passes below an overpass that is anywhere near its customers heads.
You can blame the passengers, but it doesn't take Perry Mason to take a look at the company's normal procedures and see they weren't followed in this case (I'm guessing, of course, but it's probably a safe bet). I predict multimillion dollar settlements.
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We missed a spot back to RFK on an open-top bus Thursday night -- the night before the accident. The people herding fans onto the busses were very loudly yelling to fans up top that they needed to sit down and had to sit down before they'd give the bus driver the all clear to move.