Lake Luzerne, NY — A 15-year old was killed in a bus accident in Lake Luzerne, New York, on Saturday, July 6, 2014. The victim has been identified as Hunter Scofield, who worked for Tubby Tubes, a company which describes itself as “the Lake George area’s #1 lazy river tubing outfitter in the Adirondacks.”
A 77-year old bus driver transporting customers to a river tubing trip failed to slow down as he made a turn, overturning the bus and nearly landing in the river. Scofield was thrown from the bus and killed.
The bus driver claims the vehicle’s brakes failed in the moments leading up to the accident.
In all, 34 people were aboard the bus at the time. Aside from one customer sustaining an ankle injury and being transported to Glens Falls Hospital, there’s been no word on the conditions of others involved in the accident.
The accident is currently under investigation.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Let’s be realistic here. Every time you’re investigating an accident like this, you’re going to have a driver that says, “I hit the brakes and they didn’t work!” Nine thousand nine-hundred ninety-nine times out of ten thousand, they’re either lying or they don’t know what they’re talking about. When you’re trying to go from 100 to 20 mph in the space of fifty feet and it doesn’t happen, well, that doesn’t mean the brakes failed, it just means that brakes aren’t meant to do that. However, you don’t have to take my word for it. This is something that can be tested for. If this were an accident I was investigating, there are very specific tests I could run on the brakes to see whether they were working or not. I imagine that’s what the police will do in this investigation.
Despite the fact that this happened in a vehicle, this would be categorized as a work accident, and as such, would be handled through a workers comp claim. The victim’s family wouldn’t have any claim against the employer, because in New York, workers comp is what they call the “exclusive remedy” for an accident like this. As opposed to a state like Texas, which has a gross negligence clause.
— Grossman Law Offices
