Court Upholds $8 Million Verdict in post 9-11 Bus Attack
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a jury decision to hold Greyhound responsible for a serious injury to one of its passengers that occured shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
After 9/11, Sharon Surles, of Saginaw, Mich., was afraid to fly. She nevertheless wanted to visit her daughter in Georgia, so she took the bus. In route, a passenger on the bus inexplicably attacked the driver with a knife --- slashing his throat. The bus crashed on rural Interstate 24 between Chattanooga and Nashville. The retired auto worker's spinal cord injury in the October 3, 2001 crash left her a paraplegic. Six passengers, including the attacker, were killed. A seventh died later at a hospital and 34 others on board were injured.
Greyhound spokeswoman Anna Folmnsbee said that the company has since installed shields that separate drivers from passengers on all of its more than 1,200 buses nationwide.
At the trial on Surles' lawsuit, her attorney introduced reports showing 42 other incidents of passengers grabbing or attempting to assault or grab the driver, steering wheel or brakes.
"I'm in pain every day of my life. I hurt. I am 61. Yes, I go out. I go to doctors," said Surles.