The 53-year old driver of a Le Bus tour bus, operating near the Utah-Nevada border, was killed when his bus collided with a utility vehicle that had stopped to make a turn. The driver, Pita Asiata, was the father of Minnesota Vikings running back Matt Asiata. In addition to the driver, four passengers were reported to have been injured, with one reportedly in critical condition and two with injuries described as serious but not life threatening. A pregnant passenger indicated that she was experiencing contractions and taken in for observation.
The accident occurred on Interstate 80, where the bus was travelling after having left Wendover, Nevada and was heading for Salt Lake City, Utah. Reports indicate that the collision occurred when a utility truck that was being used by a construction crew working on a cable barrier project in the area had slowed down in advance of making a left turn into a center median. It is not clear why the heavy construction vehicle slowed.
When the bus crashed into the back of the vehicle, the driver was impaled on a piece of drilling equipment and suffered “massive chest trauma”. Construction crew members indicated that the truck had its hazard lights on and that the drilling equipment was marked with hazard tape, but the accident is currently under further investigation by the tour bus company, federal investigators, the Utah Highway Patrol and the Utah Department of Transportation.
The bus company, Le Bus, is a division of Rock Springs-Jackson Bus Lines that operates 130 motor coaches. Federal bus accident statistics prepared by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regarding the company’s safety record indicates that their vehicles have been involved in five crashes in the last two years including this one. No fatalities occurred before this one, and only one of the other crashes involved any injuries.
There are specific requirements regarding the use of hazards and other warning lights for Utah Department of Transportation construction vehicles that are travelling under the speed limit, as this truck apparently was, but because the truck was operated by a contractor it is not clear whether those same requirements apply, and whether the truck was properly equipped.
Matt Asiata, the son of the driver killed in the accident, had been a football player at the University of Utah who was signed by the Vikings for their practice squad in 2011, released, then resigned for the active roster in 2012.