UPDATE: Bus driver charged with reckless driving in I-95 wreck

The driver of a bus that wrecked on Interstate 95 in Caroline County this morning, killing four and sending 54 to 10 area hospitals, has been charged with reckless driving, Virginia State Police said this afternoon.

Kin Yiu Cheung, 37, of Flushing, N.Y., who was treated at the scene for minor injuries, was being held on $3,000 bond at Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover County, Virginia State Police said in a news release.

State police said earlier that the wreck was caused by driver fatigue, and that the driver had been cooperating with authorities.

The bodies of four women killed in the wreck have been taken to the office of the chief medical examiner in Richmond for identification by family members, state police said.

The state police Motor Carrier Safety Team has finished its investigation and ruled out any mechanical errors or malfunctions as being factors in the 4:55 a.m. wreck, which closed the northbound interstate until 11:30 a.m., officials said.

The bus owned by Sky Express Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., left Greensboro, N.C., at 10:30 p.m. Monday en route to a Chinatown stop in New York, state police said. The company has had a checkered safety record, according to federal data.

"The driver was fatigued when he ran off the right side of the road," Sgt. Thomas Molnar, a state police spokesman, told reporters at the scene.

The driver was the only person aboard the bus who did not require hospitalization. The driver's seat was the only one equipped with seatbelts, authorities said.

The 60-passenger bus had 59 aboard as it ran off the right side of the interstate less than a mile south of the Carmel Church exit at mile marker 104, hit an embankment and flipped, Molnar said.

Fifty-four passengers were taken to 10 hospitals from Fredericksburg to Petersburg with injuries ranging from minor to serious and life-threatening, authorities said.

By 9 a.m. two funeral home vans arrived to transport those who were killed.

When authorities arrived the bus was on its roof, state police said. What was described as a minor fuel leak caused by the impact of the crash was contained.

One male passenger, Pavion R. O'Connor, 29, of Raleigh, N.C., was arrested because he was in a travel lane and interfering with emergency responders, Molnar said. He was charged with obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, placed on a $2,500 bond and held at the Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover County.
 
"He was not only endangering himself, but also the law enforcement and EMS personnel on the scene who were trying to assist the injured parties," said Molnar. The man repeatedly refused and struggled with the troopers as they tried to escort him to the side of the interstate, state police said.

The northbound interstate was closed until shortly after 11:15 a.m., when the bus was towed; traffic had been detoured at Exit 98 and placed back on 95 at Carmel Church.

Sky Express has a troubled safety inspection history, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website.

Sky Express performed worse than 97 percent of all passenger bus companies within the last 12 months and 99.7 percent worse in the last 24 months in the “Driver Fitness” category, FMCSA records show. That category includes drivers who are unfit to operate a commercial motor vehicle due to lack of training, experience or medical qualifications.

Additionally, the company scored worse than 77.80 percent of all bus companies within the last 12 months and 86.2 percent worse in the last 24 months in the “fatigued driver” category, records shows. This category includes drivers who are ill, fatigued or in non-compliance with the hours of service regulations.

Sky Express also ranked worse than 56 percent of bus companies within the last 12 months and 62.9 percent in the last 24 months in the “unsafe driving” category, which includes operation of vehicles in the dangerous or careless manner, the government said.

The carrier’s registration information as of May 20, 2011, says the company has 34 vehicles and 53 drivers, and traveled 3,600,000 miles in 2009.

(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available.)