A group of Chinese nationals have sued the Utah Department of Transportation, the State of Utah, and multiple construction companies after a bus crash that left four dead in 2019.
More than a dozen people were hospitalized on Sept. 20, 2019, in rural Utah when a bus carrying 30 tourists from China rolled over. Six of the eight individuals suing received personal injuries in the crash.
Multiple individuals in the group also lost family members in the incident.
The crash occurred on State Route 12 near Bryce Canyon National Park around 12 p.m.
Utah Highway Patrol officials at the time said the driver likely “went off to the right and over-corrected back to the left and overturned one time, ending up back on its wheels."
Court documents stated the bus veered onto an unpaved dirt shoulder, which was approximately three to nine inches below the surface of the paved road.
The group is suing the companies for negligence, survival of actions for injury and Utah's Wrongful Death Statute. They have demanded a jury trial to determine economic damages, including those from medical bills and lost wages, that are owed to them.
Specifically, the group claimed UDOT and local construction groups breached their duties of care. These breaches included failing to correct and inspect a hazardous road and not including signs to warn road users of any dangers, such as the unpaved shoulder's drop height.
Ten Utah-based construction businesses were included in the group being sued.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report of the bus crash in March this year, containing hundreds of pages that outline what federal transportation investigators found by examining the bus, the driver’s history and witness statements.
The 60-year-old bus driver reported there was a mechanical issue with the truck a few hours prior to the crash. It was resolved by the driver crawling under the bus and hitting the starter twice, the report said.
You can read the entire crash investigation on the NTSB website.