Tour bus operator involved in crash near Rochester has spotty safety record

Tribal Sun Bus Company, the Massachusetts company that operated the FlixBus tour bus that overturned on Interstate 490 Thursday morning, has a spotty safety record over the past two years.

Records from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, show that Tribal Sun is an operation now designated for more frequent “intervention thresholds” — inspections and investigations — partly because of past issues with drivers spending too much time behind the wheel.

Tribal Sun has had six crashes in the past two years, records show, with one of them fatal.

Over the past 12 months, the carrier has been hit with 37 violations from FMCSA, which oversees carrier safety. One of those violations cited a driver carrying passengers for driving over a 10-hour limit. Another cited a driver for going over 14 hours in a “property-carrying vehicle.”

Many of the other citations focused on record-keeping. There were no violations considered “acute” or “critical,” which can prompt immediate intervention and investigations.

In Thursday's crash, the driver was issued tickets for fatigued driving, unreasonable speed, unsafe lane changes and not wearing a seatbelt. His name was not released.

More:Tour bus crash near Rochester is one of several in NY since 2002: The list

Monroe County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Michael Fowler said the bus was traveling at a speed of more than 70 miles per hour when it left then re-entered the road, flipped onto its side and slid roughly 200 yards down the westbound lanes of the highway on its side before stopping.

Twenty-eight people were injured, one critically, according to law enforcement officials. Everyone on the bus - including the driver - was transported to local hospitals.

The bus left New York City around midnight and was enroute to Niagara Falls. The crash occurred on the highway, near Union Street in Chili, around 7:10 a.m. It has made several stops to drop passengers Thursday, including in Rocheter.

Fowler said that both the driver - who was thrown through the windshield during Thursday's crash - and the bus company have been cooperating with the sheriff's office through the investigation.