A charter bus driver is confronting the prospect of prison, following a deadly crash in Pennsylvania that tragically killed a California woman last month.
According to the Pennsylvania State Police. Charles Dwight Dixon, 33, of New York City, was charged on Monday with multiple criminal counts, including homicide by vehicle, assault by vehicle, and driving under the influence.
Deceased Texted 911 Moments Before Fatal Crash
Dixon was behind the wheel of a Big Red Bullet charter bus on October 14th, as it made its way from Ithaca, New York to New York City with 13 passengers on board.
Shortly before 9:30 p.m., the vehicle suddenly veered off of I-380 south, flipped onto its side, and crashed into a wooded area in Covington Township, Pennsylvania.
A 21-year-old woman from Vacaville, California died in the accident.
Tragically, she had texted 911 about Dixon’s erratic driving just moments before the crash.
Several other passengers were taken to area hospitals, including one person who suffered a broken neck.
Driver Fell Asleep at Wheel, Tested Positive for Cocaine
The Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) continue to investigate the fatal accident.
Among other things, a post-crash inspection revealed that a third of the bus’s brakes were defective.
What’s more, Dixon told police he had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Dixon was taken to the hospital shortly after the crash, where he underwent federally-mandated blood tests.
According to a police affidavit, those tests were positive for cocaine.
“I Was Legitimately Concerned for People’s Lives”
Big Red Bullet is a charter-bus company offering direct service between its headquarters in Ithaca, New York and New York City.
The low-cost, daily trips to the Big Apple are popular with Cornell University students. In fact, the young woman killed in last month’s deadly crash was a Cornell alum and had recently taken a job in New York City.
According to online records maintained by the FMSCA, Big Red Bullet hasn’t been cited for any safety violations since its founding in 2015. In interviews with the Cornell Sun, however, several former passengers reported that their recent trips had raised concerns.
For example, one Cornell student said his driver seemed distracted and had been using a phone during a Big Red Bullet trip in December 2017. The student also described several disconcerting encounters with other vehicles, including a near-collision that was only averted because a semi-truck managed to swerve in time.
“I was legitimately concerned for people’s lives,” the student said.
On another trip, a Big Red Bullet driver told the same student that he had been on the road for over 12 hours, was on his third round-trip of the day, and had yet to eat.
“In hindsight, you can’t help but wonder if they were really taking care of their employees,” the student added.
Our Undefeated Bus Accident Lawyers Have Won Some of the Largest Recoveries in Cases Involving Driver Fatigue
Our Undefeated Bus Accident Attorneys have won record-setting verdicts and settlements for clients injured in connection with fatigue-related bus crashes.
For example, we recently negotiated a $6 million settlement on behalf of several Greyhound Bus passengers who were injured when their driver fell asleep at the wheel.
Greyhound insisted that the driver had passed out due to a “sudden medical” episode.
Our attorneys, however, obtained the first-ever court-ordered sleep study of a commercial driver, confirming that the Greyhound Bus driver actually suffered from undiagnosed Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea and likely fell asleep at the wheel.
Our record-breaking recovery is the largest settlement involving driver fatigue in Greyhound’s corporate history and was widely covered by CBS Morning News and other major media outlets throughout the United States.
Contact Our Undefeated Bus Accident Lawyers for a Free Consultation at 1-888-603-3636 or CLICK HERE
Our Undefeated Bus Accident Lawyers are investigating the Big Red Bullet charter bus crash in Pennsylvania and will post updates as new information becomes available.
In addition to being Undefeated, our attorneys have won over $1 Billion for thousands of accident victims throughout the United States, including some of the largest bus accident verdicts and settlements in defendants’ corporate history.
If you have questions about your legal rights and options following a bus crash or other motor vehicle accident, please call 1-888-603-3636 or Click Here to send us a confidential email via our “Contact Us” form.
All consultations are free and, since we work exclusively on a contingency-fee basis, you’ll owe nothing unless we win your case.