Miami Herald Logo

Families, survivors file suit in MIA bus crash | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Miami-Dade County

Families, survivors file suit in MIA bus crash

Brenda Medina

    ORDER REPRINT →

December 07, 2012 07:59 PM

Relatives of one of the passengers who died in last weekend’s bus crash at Miami International Airport, as well as one of the survivors, have filed negligence suits against the driver and the bus service company.

Two negligence lawsuits have been filed against the bus company and the driver involved in the crash at Miami International Airport.

In their lawsuit, the family of Francisco Ureña, one of two passengers who died in the Dec. 1 crash, accused driver Ramón Ferreiro and Miami Bus Service Corp., of negligent homicide.

“The big story here is how and why was this driver behind the wheel,” said their attorney, Mike Eidson. “What kind of safety controls are in place to prevent drivers who would do what he did from behind the wheel? He got lost in the simplest route.”

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Ferreiro was driving 32 members of a Sweetwater-area Jehovah’s Witness congregation to a general assembly in West Palm Beach. The 47-year-old told authorities he got lost, then confused when he found himself at the airport.

He drove his 11-foot bus past several yellow signs warning drivers that vehicles taller than 8 feet, 6 inches cannot go through an overpass in the airport’s lower-level arrivals area.

Ureña, 56, and Serafín Castillo, 86, died in the crash.

On Thursday, Miriam Lorenza Machado, who survived the crash, also filed a negligence suit.

Her attorney Stephen Rossman said he could not understand how Ferreiro missed the yellow warning signs.

“It is really mind-boggling how he could not pay attention to all the warnings that were there before his eyes when he is supposed to be a professional driver,” he said. “We find it to be total negligence and carelessness.”

Machado, who was sitting in the second row, suffered four broken ribs and injuries to her vertebrae. The 70-year-old widow remained in stable condition at Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital late Friday evening.

“We have a lot of questions,” said her son, Yovanis Chávez. “We don’t know what’s going to happen to my mother or whether she’s going to heal.”

Machado is not the only survivor who has sought legal help. West Palm Beach attorney Patrick Cousins is representing at least six other survivors seeking compensation for medical costs.

Cousins told El Nuevo Herald on Thursday that he hopes to settle the matter out of court.

Meanwhile, Alberto and Mayling Hernández, who own Miami Bus Service Corp., could not be reached late Friday for comment.

The day of the crash, Ureña’s family, his wife and two adult children – Norma Tavares and Anarshille and Francisco Ureña – traveled by car to the West Palm Beach general assembly while Ureña joined his friends on the bus.

“They feel really bad that they couldn’t be with him when this happened,” Eidson said. “When they got to the hospital, he was already dead.”

For his part, the driver said in a statement released Thursday that he was praying for the victims’ families.

“I know there are no words of comfort for what happened, but my family and I are praying for all those affected and their loved ones,” he wrote in Spanish. “I’m emotionally and physically very shocked by what happened.’’

Ferreiro, 47, took a wrong turn on South Le Jeune Road, and was apparently going too fast. He sped past multiple signs warning of the low clearance at the airport’s arrival concourse, smashing the 11-foot-tall bus into an overpass.

The passengers sitting in the front were killed; the remaining 30 passengers went to hospitals for examinations and treatment.

Ferreiro, who had a clean driving record prior to the crash, has not been charged.

Related stories from Miami Herald

latest-news

Third person dies from injuries suffered in bus crash at Miami International Airport

December 10, 2012 06:35 PM

  Comments  

Videos

Two men impersonating FBI agents rob Florida home

Police search for suspect in South Beach shooting death

View More Video

Trending Stories

It’s not so hard for an immigrant to become a U.S. citizen. Here’s what you have to do

February 20, 2019 01:20 PM

Think Florida is a ‘sinful’ place to live? You’re right, according to this new study

February 20, 2019 01:18 PM

Americans arrested in Haiti driving around with an arsenal are flown to the U.S.

February 20, 2019 06:54 PM

Cuts are coming for Dolphins’ receivers, but there’s one their new coach raves about

February 19, 2019 12:31 PM

Here are two young players the new Dolphins staff really likes. And two issues looming

February 20, 2019 04:00 PM

Read Next

‘Who gave it, who got it?’ How political influence in Miami is bought — and concealed

Miami-Dade County

‘Who gave it, who got it?’ How political influence in Miami is bought — and concealed

By Joey Flechas and

Kyra Gurney

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 21, 2019 06:00 AM

During ballot initiatives in Miami and Miami Beach, campaign donations that cannot be traced back to the original donors moved through a web of political committees — a legal form of concealing donors.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

They lost sons to addiction. Now they’re pushing for needle exchange to go beyond Miami

Miami-Dade County

They lost sons to addiction. Now they’re pushing for needle exchange to go beyond Miami

February 21, 2019 07:30 AM

Crime

Man who hurled racial slurs at black teens pleads not guilty, but doesn’t show for court

February 20, 2019 12:06 PM
Three more years: Incumbent teachers’ union leaders, caucus sweep elections

Education

Three more years: Incumbent teachers’ union leaders, caucus sweep elections

February 20, 2019 09:29 PM
Watch a gator vs. python do battle at Shark Valley. And the winner is ...

Environment

Watch a gator vs. python do battle at Shark Valley. And the winner is ...

February 20, 2019 11:07 AM
Miami man recalls when there was something about North Bayshore Drive

Miami Stories

Miami man recalls when there was something about North Bayshore Drive

February 20, 2019 07:10 PM
Civic leader and philanthropist Betty Chapman, widow of Miami media giant, dies at 98

Local Obituaries

Civic leader and philanthropist Betty Chapman, widow of Miami media giant, dies at 98

February 20, 2019 11:22 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story