Feds Shut Down Tour Bus Operator

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered tour bus operator Scapadas Magicas to cease operations immediately. (File Photo)

By Michael P. Neufeld

Yucaipa, CA – Tour bus operator Scapadas Magicas has been ordered closed by the federal government.

The National City-based bus company involved in the fatal bus crash on Highway 38 that claimed the lives of eight people was directed to cease operations by the U. S. Department of Transportation.

The federal agency’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also declared the carrier to be an imminent hazard to public safety, according to information released to news media. The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the February 3 accident that closed Highway 38 for about 24 hours.

Following the crash, federal investigators inspected two additional motor-coaches operated by Scapadas Magicas that had been making trips in the United States to places like Disneyland and Big Bear. The post-crash investigation allegedly found serious mechanical safety violations and the buses were immediately taken out of service.

FEDERAL STATEMENTS

“Safety is our number one priority and we will not tolerate unsafe bus companies on our nation’s roads,” U. S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a prepared statement. “We will not allow safety to be compromised.”

“After the tragic crash earlier this week, FMCSA investigators quickly inspected this carrier’s other two buses which had been operated on U. S. roads, and immediately shut them down,” FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro’s stated. “Today, we’ve officially blocked the company from conducting future operations in the United States.”

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