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CATS bus that crashed into home was in violation of state law

7 years 11 months 1 week ago Tuesday, April 19 2016 Apr 19, 2016 April 19, 2016 11:00 PM April 19, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A maintenance history for the CATS bus that was involved in a crash last week involving a house reveals a slew of issues.

The maintenance report dates from Mar. 15 to Apr. 11 for the bus, Bus 130. Issues that were continuously reported include the the check engine light on, a broken wheel chair lift, one bike restraint missing, the right side view mirror missing and a cracked windshield.

The report also indicated the bus spent 12 days on the road without a working horn. That's illegal under state law.

Some of the daily reports did not list any issues, while others listed up to five.


According to James Goodwin, director of maintenance, the bus was out of service from January 2016 to March 2016

The maintenance of the bus was called into question after an accident happened on Apr. 14 when it struck a house on North Boulevard.

Metro Councilman Delgado told News 2 that CATS workers told him they knew about a mechanical issue with the bus the day before the accident occurred.

Amie S. McNaylor, assistant secretary to the CATS board of commissioners, released a statement the afternoon following the crash:

"CATS is investigating the incident that occurred this morning in the 3300 block of North Boulevard. First, our thoughts are with the inured [sic] passengers and operator as well. We are working to have an  independent party conduct a Commercial Driver Inspection inspection [sic] to determine if there are any safety hazards present.  We will continue to work with law enforcement to determine the cause of the accident. As we learn more facts about what occurred, we will provide an update."
A meeting with CATS representatives and the Amalgamated Transit Union was held on Monday to bus maintenance, privatization and the system's budget were discussed. The meeting was already scheduled prior to the crash.

CATS interim CEO revealed to News 2 that some of the buses in the fleet were up to 17-years-old. The full report on Bus 130 can be viewed here.

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