A fun excursion to end this way...Damn...I sure hope the bus driver was not drunk or taking prescription pills cause that bus line is probably going to go out of business....and i espicially hope he was not texting while driving...

that sucks.........

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

That was my first thought too!

seattledow, that was my first thought as well. I heard on the news this morning that the driver will be charged with felony dui. How tragic! Another example of why people should not drink and drive. My prayers with everyone involved and to the friends and families of those who were lost in this senseless accident.

I think that they were only making reference to to their ethnicity because they were trying to indicate that they were having a bit of trouble because they couldn't understand what the victims were saying so it hindered the investigation a bit.

People like you that automatically jump to the race issue make me sick. There are 8 people dead and 35 injured (according to the news broadcast this morning)and you are all worried about the crews being racist. Apparently everyone that could be helped was they are all in hospitals and being taken care of.

I live in in the area of where this accident happened and I Thank God for our wonderful emergency teams that took care of all of these people. They did a wonderful job getting people the help they needed!

Its not race . its the fact that they could not talk to the rescue personel .

http://www.kcra.com/video/17631270/index.html

Watch this video and you can see that I am correct in the language barrier.

Actually the fact that they were Laotian is an part of the story. Read the line from the story below.

"Troth said he did not know the extent of the injuries. He said emergency responders were having trouble communicating with the passengers because many spoke Lao. "

I highly doubt this point was made just to "bring race into this".

Also, by reading the story, I don't think there is any bus line "in business" in the first place. This looks like crooked people illegally putting unsuspecting travelers on a non-registered bus. I'll bet they are already on the run. It's just plain terrible what they did to these people. A tragedy for sure.

Thats the first thing I thought of also, what the hell does that have to do with anything?

The California Highway Patrol says it will arrest on DUI charges the driver of a bus that crashed and killed 10 people Sunday. Quienten Joey Watts of Stockton remains in a Woodland hospital but will be arrested for driving the vehicle under the influence....

http://www.sacbee.com/

The bus industry needs to be regulated more, like the trucking industry. Busses are basically trucks that haul people instead of cargo and they have very little regulation. Busses are allowed to go faster and are not required to go thru CHP inspection faciltiies. Maybe things should be changed.

I agree about the CHP inspection facility. These buses haul people, not just commodities. They should be inspected right along with the big rigs. Evidently this bus wasn't even registered with California, had no operating licens's, per the news....

This was not a regulated bus. It was being operated illegally. I agree with you 100% i5- They should have to go through CHP facilities and this could have been prevented. I'm willing to bet the driver was not even licensed to be driving a bus. It's horrible what happened.

"CHP spokesman Robert Kays said the bus had a Texas license plate that was "not valid." He said other registration serial numbers also came up invalid."

I agree with the lack of regulation, but the lack of regulation is why buss travel is affordable. If regulated, the cost of riding would likely increase, unless taxpayers are going to subsidize the increase.

Re-read what you just wrote and think about it again.

What the hell!!! So you would rather pay a cheaper fare than be safe...Are you kidding me.

yeah, and if regulated maybe bus travel would be safer.

I'm sure the legimate bus operators already follow safe regulations.
the rouge operators, presumably like the one in this accident, would be hard pressed to operate with tighter regulations.

peace to the accident victims and their families.

I'd rather pay something and have people LIVE!

I don't ever ride in those things... they've always scared me. But I do have to share the road with the dang things!

Redding - I said it last night, and I'll say it again. These speeding death trap buses are a long overdue hazard that needs greater oversight. Think about it - there are thousands of these casino trips every day that seniors make in charter buses. Many times my daughter and I have been on the way to Dillard's Department Store in Stockton and almost sideswiped by one of these coaches traveling 90 miles and hour! It's terrible, and a wonder more of these flip over accidents don't happen.

I do hope the hospitals had interpreters available to help the doctors communicate with the patients and families.

We should all be VERY glad more people weren't killed in this quite PREVENTABLE accident!

Sue
Redding - the gem of Northern California

Revealing that the deceased were Laotian was done for several reasons. One being it is a way for the journalist to leak to the public in regard to who may have actually been on the bus, since, “Nobody from the bus was identified”.

One could use the same irrelevant argument you stated about race and inquire, what does a bus have to do with it, or the invalid license plate, or that they were driving to a casino, why didn’t the newspaper just state “10 people are dead”. These are all facts and pieces to the puzzle and I feel you only brought up race to be malicious.

Thanks for the video link. It seemed pretty clear to me in the article and on newscasts that no one was being racist at all. Good Grief!

I will post this and am sure there will be ALOT of negative responses but I will NOT defend my statement.....
If you choose to live in AMERICA and choose NOT to learn the ENGLISH language this is what can happen. The emergency responders were having difficulty communicating with some of the passengers as they spoke ONLY Lao. Is it expected for emergency personnel or anyone who works in the public sector to learn EVERY language out there because people who choose to live in America don't choose to learn the ENGLISH language or refuse to. It has been said that the english language is one of the most difficult to learn - BUT - when people choose to travel abroad, do they not try to learn that countries language so they can communicate effectively.
It is sad that this happened and my prayers go out to all involved.

I would gather this is also why it's easy to get these people to believe they are getting on a safe bus for a fun trip too ;-)

I noticed on pictures of the bus that it totally looks like it's still a greyhound bus too. I wonder why greyhound doesn't remove their company colors/markings/logo from their busses before selling them. Doesn't seem like good business practice to me at all. I wonder if these people thought they were getting on a safe company bus.

Just a very very sad event this is. I can't imagine what those people went thru. Hope some good comes from it in the form of changes in regulations.

heres a tissue for your issue..

The regulation would penalize poor people. Regulation costs money. I do agree the buses would be safer. I also think we should all pay for any increases as opposed to passing them along to the bus riders, who cannot afford them.

They just had a bus crash like this in Texas about a month ago, same thing I believe Laotion people on chartered bus for some trip. Turns out the bus was illegal and used illegal re-tread tires or something and the tire blew out and that is why it crashed, I think about 10 people died in that crash.

- My sympathies for the families of the deceased.

This was just on national news, CNN and it said the driver was drunk, had invalid license and the bus was registered in Texas, hes been arrested and is in jail.

Can someone tell me why buses aren't required to have seatbelts? It would seem that would have saved some of the people. I remember the same thing happening in 1977 with a bunch of school kids. No seatbelts then or now.

How do you know they weren't tourists, jackass?

interesting how many different versions you hear from one story

i just saw on local news that the driver is in critical condition in a woodland hospital and is in such bad shape that he can't even talk to police

they showed the cops holding a box that might contain a blood sample for use in figuring out what he was on

heard prescription medication... haven't heard anything about drunk

DUI doesn't necessarily mean drunk... just under the influence of something.

When a bus (especially a school bus!) is upside down, passengers will start unhooking seatbelts and falling.

Nice rhyme, too bad you have nothing worth while to say.

As far as my original post, the early version of this story before it was updated at 9:01am did not state that there were any problems with first responders not being able to communicate with the victims, it only stated they were of Laotion descent and I did not understand why that would matter. Since the update it makes sense why the said it.

Trickigal- you need to read before you spout off, I asked why race was mentioned at all in the first place, the reporter neglected to mention the reason why it was important to note they were Laotian.

See I was responding to three comments that were made about race if you would pay attention. My comment was not only directed to you or I would have replied to poster as I am now.

Maybe if you read between the lines you could have put two and two together instead of just assuming that it was something to do with racisim.

exactly what I was thinking! there are tons of tour groups this time of year, so there is no reason for them to be fluent in english, especially if they are visiting. Regardless of what language they speak, they have been hurt in a horrible tragedy.

It is not just these tour busses that practice agressive driving. I don't know how many times I have traveled down Interstate 5 or Hwy 99, and have almost been run off the road by an AMTRAK bus doing near 100 mph. In fact I recall an incident on 99 where I was doing around 65 to 70 and had an Amtrak bus blinking his lights at me, probably in an attempt to get me to either pull over or go faster.

It has been said that some of these commuter busses are told to ignore traffic laws, speed, etc...in order to keep to their schedules.

regarding your 8:07 am.: Was wondering why greyhound was always passing trucks. Does that mean CHP always looks the other way or are they allowed to drive the "auto" speed limit. Fortunately Greyhound has safe drivers but the passengers have no seatbelts (hopefully), if I remember right.

eeaaww eeaaww
(and again I am NOT defending my statement)
may or may not have been tourists - still - learn the language of the country you are going to tour, even if just enough to get you by and HELP in case of an EMERGENCY.

typical redneck thinking.

you cannot defend your statement because it is stupid.

with your logic, americans should all learn chinese, korean, french, et.al., if they were to travel to another country.

Well I agree with YOU !!!

Next time you see a Greyhound or charter bus, pay attention to the lights. Almost every bus on the road has at least on taillight, blinker or headlight out. If they don't inspect and care enough to fix the lights, what other things are they neglecting? Brakes? Tires? The small tour/charter operators are the biggest violators of saftey regulations. Also, CA state law says any vehicle towing a trailer or that has more than two axles on the ground is limited to 55MPH. These tour busses are constantly going 80 and when was the last time you saw one pulled over with a CHP officer.

They are trying to explain why they were unable to communicate and get statements from the injured passengers. I also find it interesting that most of the passengers did not speak English, but I'm sure were on their way to Colusa Casino to spend their government checks though!!

at the greyhound station in Redding the driver always did a visual of his bus before it left with a check list in his hand. Yeah, the bus did drive fast once since I noticed it was a little late leaving Redding and the arrival time in Sacramento was good. The drivers do seem well trained and skilled.

Greyhound is alot better than the smaller bus fleet operators. I still challange you to look at the light on busses, even Greyhounds and you will find taillights and other lights that don't work on most any bus.

Wouldn't it be easier on the body to fall a few feet from unhooking the seatbelt, than to get thrown through the bus, or out of the bus, and have the bus roll over you.

As someone who has travelled to other countries and seen Americans abroad, I have to tell you you're full of crap. Americans expect everyone to speak english, everywhere they go. In most European countries they do, but if an American meets up with someone who doesn't and has trouble making themselves understood they get upset and complain about how rude Europeans are. I've seen it so many times, it's ridiculous. The United States does not have an official language, it is not required to learn english to live here. If you don't like that, perhaps you should move to a country that is stricter about those sorts of things.

if called one may as well baaay like one.
I do not stoop to calling people names, the words they use to call others are just a reflection upon themselves.
No I am not a MORON, I am a well educated individual who FEELS that if people choose to live in the USofA because they do not like the "way of living" where they are from they should learn to adapt to the country they are living OR if you plan a trip/tour in another country "try" to learn the language so you may communicate better.
My Great Grandparents were "foreigners" and moved to the USofA in their late 20's. Though the language in the home was of their birth country, they spoke ENGLISH very well, my Grandfather was very young when they moved over here and again he learned the ENGLISH language BECAUSE that is what was needed to communicate with living here as well as with those from other countries.
What does speaking ENGLISH have to do with the crash, you ask??? Did YOU READ the article. If you did you would have seen in the article:
"Troth said he did not know the extent of the injuries. He said emergency responders were having trouble communicating with the passengers because many spoke Lao."
So anyway a MORON, idiot or A**HOLE I am not, just tired of BENDING over backwards and getting it in the A**HOLE in order to accommodate those who choose to NOT TRY and learn to live as those in the country they so wanted to live and get away from where they came.

need someone to blame?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel

Amen bratsme!! And I'm tired of paying taxes so these lazy people who don't have enough time to learn our language still have plenty of time to cash their welfare and SSI checks and gamble it all away at the casinos!!!!

what language do people need to know in order to pass the test(s) to become a citizen of the USofA. Traveling abroad is not as easy as you make it sound. I have been to Europe, the summer of 72 and the adults we were with luckily new the language(s), as a young teen I learned some of the language in order to get by in case we got seperated from our group. I like it where I am thank you and plan on staying.

thanks fantabulous, glad to see someone agrees. I guess I stirred a hornets nest.
Gotta go BUT I shall return to see who else I pi$$ed off.

I am with you 100% I am an AMERICAN AND DARN PROUD OF IT. Now if I go to another country I have to suck it up or not communicate. WE need to start doing that in this country. Now for the poor people on this bus my prayers are with there families. It should have never happened if the law had been obayed.

It isn't that difficult to travel abroad if you try to learn the language of the countries you are visiting. The difference between travelling there and travelling here from abroad is that if you try to learn the language thre most people will help you out and speak in english. If people try to learn english and stumble over their words here Americans get pissed that they dared to come to this country without learning to speak fluent english.

Also, the requirements for citizenship do not include learning english if one is over a certain age, or has been living here for a certain amount of time.

seals,
I guess if you were in an accident in another country, you would just have to "suck it up".

If you are so darn proud of being an american, then language would not be an issue. After all, we don't speak "american".

"The United States does not have an official language, it is not required to learn english to live here. If you don't like that, perhaps you should move to a country that is stricter about those sorts of things."

True, the US does not have an official language, HOWEVER at least 30 states do (American English if you are wondering) and American English is the de facto official language of the United States.

People who live in this country who make no effort to learn the language are the ones who need to leave.

(This may be irrelevant to this story as I am not sure the victims of this crash were tourists or residents. No matter which way you look at it it's still very sad.)

I have no problem with people that learn the to speak American/English as you say but we do take care of them so don't bash the rescue people that can't understand and you think it is there fault. Come here speak the language sorry freedom of speach. I have lived her ALL my life (56 yrs)in Redding and never use to have this problem.

The article stated that the emergency crews had a difficult time helping the victims due to the language barrier! I agree...If you are going to be a permanent resident of the United States, it might be smart to learn at least basic english.

My point. Thank you

That was the EXACT point I was going to make {all great minds do think alike...} Of what importance is the fact some passengers were of Laotian descent? Were any of them white? Were any of them Hispanic? Get my drift? The race of the passengers has NOTHING to do with this story. R.S. why do you always fluff your stories with such unnecessary information. NOBODY CARES! What we DO care about is the fact that this driver was impaired enough to be arrested at the scene, and more importantly that his negligence and moronic choice to drive while impaired has cost 10 PEOPLE their life. That's what your readers care about.

***"Troth said he did not know the extent of the injuries. He said emergency responders were having trouble communicating with the passengers because many spoke Lao."***

I agree with you Bratsme!!!
Its really hard to treat someone with injuries if you can't communicate. I'm surprised you are getting so much negative feedback for your comment. It's plain and simple. Live in America....learn to speak like Americans. Or suit yourself!

"Of what importance is the fact some passengers were of Laotian descent?"

It matters because of this... "CHP dispatcher Terry Troth said ..... emergency responders were having trouble communicating with the passengers because many spoke Lao."

Yes, it's relevant. Yes, it's important.

(BTW this wasn't written by the RS. It's a reprint of an AP article.)

Good Job Jericho! I agree. Everything that I have seen on this story says the same thing about the launguage barrier, I was going to make that point earlier but there are so many people that feel they need to keep arguing their own ingnorant thoughts that I didn't feel there was any use.

also explains why they don't know exactly what happened either maybe?

the victims can't tell the police what was happening before hand or where they got tickets for this doomed trip or who to notify as far as letting families know who is dead or alive or which hospital they are in

this is an information nightmare because of the fact that these people don't speak English

and you know darn well that if they didn't explain about the language barrier there would be people having a fit wanting to know more information than is offered up here

damned if you do
damned if you don't

Wow, one statement by the RS sure opened a can of worms!
I work in Colusa & it amazed me how many spanish speaking only people live there. The children typically translate for parents in their 30's-40's. I also see young moms having babies that only speak spanish. I find it frustrating, but as long as we keep supplying translators, they have no reason to learn the language.
The stinking manufacturers give cooking directions in spanish & english these days, haven't you noticed?
I work 12 mo. a year, pay tons of taxes, but someone can come to US & work a few months, no insurancee except med-i-cal & of course food stamps. Then I am expected to work to communicate with them, something is wrong with this picture.
If you LIVE in the US (operative word LIVE), then you should be expected to learn the language.
Visitors are another thing, I believe. Although when I traveled in Japan, I had a translation book & had prepared words enough to communicate a bit & ask questions, etc. I went prepared, same as anyone should do to show respect for the difference in languages.
I believe that is what 'bratsme' is trying to get across to this group.
Of course, most americans need to learn to spell & know their prepositions, etc. Please learn that: their & there mean 2 different things, same as your & you're ... lazy people are everywhere & the US loves to support them all.
I need to go get ready for work...

seals,
no one is bashing the rescue people.

they do and I'm sure in this case, did an excellent job.

we're talking about the subject of "having" to speak english.

all those rights everyone is so proud to rally around, speech, gun ownership, ect., seem to get neglected when people in our country demand everyone conform to what they think is right. In this case that everyone should have to speak english.

I've lived in california all my life and it's never really been an issue for me.

I don't know if you guys have been keeping tabs on new developments but they released the names of some of the passengers that died and one of them was the man that owned the bus line.

"Kays said the bus had a Texas license plate that was "not valid." He said other registration serial numbers also came up invalid".

"The driver, who has not been identified, had a valid commercial driver's license but the patrol is looking into whether he had the proper permits to drive a bus in California".

Sounds like a quick buck operation gone bad. Some liberal judge will give the owner a day and a half probation.

As said in one of my favorite advertisements, "GET A ROPE"

Im confused...

Did 8 or 10 people die?? AP news still says 8, yet the blue box above says 10.

"Some liberal judge will give the owner a day and a half probation."
if the post above yours is correct that might be a bit on the impossible side.
seems he was on the bus and died.

Thanks Lala!!!
When I first posted I DID state that I would NOT defend my statement.
For those who think I am....I am just reiterating my statement as those who are speaking SO NEGATIVELY of it don't seem to or want to understand my point and those that do have common sense and logic can see my point.
Common sense and logic - you either have it or you don't. They are not a learned thing.

glad to see someone else who works in the public sector that has come across what I have. I have actually had clients come in and speak fairly good english when someone is not there who speaks their language - BUT - the minute they see someone who does, all of a sudden they no longer can communicate and want to speak with the person who can understand or translate for them.

thats crazy the driver was on something. race of the passengers should mean nothing. THE DRIVER WAS ON SOMETHING, HE GOT ARRESTED!!!!!

Go here http://www.kcra.com/news/17638335/detail.html

It will pretty much answer all of your questions. On the right hand side there are all kinds of different little articles that have to do with this accident. There are also video clips and a list of the deceased and some of the injured's names.

race had everything to do with communication issues in this event!
good grief my forehead is starting to hurt!

I believe the issue of so many being of Laotian descent was first raised because they initially had a problem communicating, etc due to language barriers, which slowed down so many processes.

It's pretty hard to evaluate injuries, determine who loved ones are and so many things, when you do not readily have interperters on the scene.

I have prayed for these poor people all day long. That this happened is so very sad.

My greatest fear upon hearing the first news of this was that this would be groups of friends or family members who would suffer great losses.

Something like this will affect your entire life, even if you are traveling with complete strangers, but to be heading for a fun outing with family or friends and then to lose them so tragically, how very sad.

My heart has just cried for them all day.

Certainly my thoughts and prayers will be with them for some time to come.

guilty until proven inocent they don't know if he was on anything. who cares what he did in the past so he sold weed most of the people reading smoked it

Like a couple of others on here, I've been a long haul trucker for several years. I've got to say that busses, whether they are Greyhound or cheap charters don't have to follow the same safety rules as trucks and there are usually safety problems on the busses. Lights, mirrors and windows are all safety items just the same as brakes and tires. I've also noted the busses don't have to adhere to the speed laws like trucks. I've been passed by buses in Arizona, where I can run at 70, so these busses have to be doing at least 80. On I-5 here in the north state I've seen busses passing all the traffic, including the CHP. To me this is a major problem just waiting for a big accident, maybe this will be the one to cure some of these inadequacies.

Sounds like Mr. Cobb, who was on the bus, needed to do background checks of his bus drivers and other folks involved with the bus or busses the company owns, because, clearly the driver was not qualified to drive the bus. Someone I know, a business owner, has a habit of employing folks with a clear history of similar problems, and any business owner who hires has to take responsibility for the background checks and possible drug screens of their employees. Not doing so cost Mr. Cobb his life !

amen

Which part of the bus industry is not regulated?

All "for hire" buses must have a BIT inspection, safety inspection, MC ID, IFTA registration, drivers with CDL, and appropriate insurance, perform daily pretrip inspections, maintain driver logs (and have them available for inspection).

I see more trucks than buses out there with one or more inoperable lights, unsafe rubber, cell phones being used without hands free devices, and you never see a bus driver leaving a bottle full of urine on the side of the road.

Sad to say, all of the commercial industry seems to be taking some short-cuts due to the cost of fuel and maintenance.

Many times you seem spot-on, but this time you have your mirrors a little cockeyed good buddie!

What do you say to people who are touring the US from other countries spending tourist dollars when they get hurt in accidents, "sorry for your luck, should have learned english before you got here??? Do you have a clue as too how long it takes to learn the english language??? More than two years just to become fluent enough to be understood, FYI english is the 2nd hardest after latin to master.

Sue,
I have an off-topic question, you seem to be very knowlegable for things in Redding. Please email me at shastalin@yahoo.com
Thanks so much.

English is the official language of the United States.
Traveling in a foreign country and not knowing the language is one thing, but to live in a country and not know the language is another.

The article said they were from a community in Sacramento. Name calling is so juvenile and low class.

"English is the official language of the United States.
Traveling in a foreign country and not knowing the language is one thing, but to live in a country and not know the language is another."

1. No, it isn't. The country has not adopted an official language. Some states have, but the country has not.

2. There are many many Americans living abroad who do not know the language of the country they reside in. Most of those countries do have official languages. I lived in Germany for over a year, in an area where about 5,000 other Americans also lived. The vast majority of them did not speak Deutsch. I was told by someone once "Why bother learning the language? They all speak English, they just pretend that they don't to piss us off". So we expect everyone who visits the US to speak english, and we expect everyone in other countries to speak english. Apparently we are so fabulous that we don't need to learn anything. Also, just an FYI, most people in other cuontries do not know just one language aside from their own, they know 2 or 3, sometimes 4 or 5. Most people in Europe speak their language and at least French. Most Americans barely speak proper english, and no foreign language is required in American schools.

Interesting... I was required to take either Spanish, French or Latin in high school. I chose Latin.
Graduation year 1985

In college I was once again required to take either French, Spanish or German in order to graduate.
Graduation year 2000