State Pays $3-M To Bus Crash Victims

The state of Georgia has paid the maximum legal settlement--$3 million--to victims of the wreck of the Bluffton University baseball team bus accident two years ago. The wreck killed five baseball players, the bus driver and his wife. State law limits Georgia's liability to $3 million per occurrence, no matter how many are injured.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the bus driver thought he was staying in an HOV lane on Interstate 75 when he drove onto an exit ramp just north of Atlanta, plowing through a stop sign at highway speed and off of a bridge at the top of the ramp.

The NTSB released recommendations in August urging more clear and consistent highway signs.

Second lawsuit filed in Atlanta bus crash

A second lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Bluffton University players and coaches killed or injured in an Atlanta bus crash earlier this year. Attorneys want the court to determine whether those involved are eligible for money from insurers. The filing states the driver and bus company were covered under three policies, and that the victims should be coverred as well. There was an earlier lawsuit filed by the mother of one of the five players killed. In March, the university’s baseball team bus tumbled over an Atlanta highway overpass--the driver apparently mistook the exit ramp for a highway lane.

Bus crash victims' families to sue

The families of 16 college baseball players killed or injured in a Georgia bus crash may sue the state. Today they filed necessary claims required under Georgia law before filing a suit against the state. 13 players from Bluffton University in Ohio were hurt March 2nd when their bus plunged off an overpass on Interstate 85 in Atlanta. 3 other players died. The state has a maximum liability of $3 million for the crash.