Both drivers charged in airport shuttle wreck

As charges were filed Monday against the drivers involved in last month’s hotel shuttle wreck that injured 17, the shuttle owner says the driver shouldn’t have been behind the wheel.

And one traffic expert said the 18-wheeler struck by the shuttle never should have been there to be struck.

Police held both tractor-trailer driver Mario Cochran and the shuttle driver whose bus slammed into his big rig, Yolanda Boles, responsible in connection with the May 24 accident.

“On that day, Ms. Boles mistakenly took command of a larger vehicle than one for which she was rated,” said Michael Toye, owner of the shuttle company MTI Limos and Shuttles, via email.

Boles’ shuttle bus slammed into the back of the tractor-trailer as it made a U-turn that morning on Loop Road near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, causing injury to herself and all 16 of her passengers – three seriously.

Boles is charged with operating a commercial vehicle with improper license, as well as three counts of serious injury by vehicle, operating a vehicle with improper tires and operating an unsafe vehicle.

Toye’s attorney, John Austin, said Boles was driving on the commercial equivalent of a learner’s permit and did not have the Georgia commercial driver’s license required to operate a vehicle carrying more than 15 passengers. She was only supposed to drive the bus with a CDL-licensed driver aboard.

Cochran, the driver of the USA Truck 18-wheeler that Boles hit, also was charged with three counts of serious injury by vehicle – a felony that carries up to 15 years of jail time per count – and improper left turn for initiating that U-turn from the right lane against state law.

“Many of the trucking companies that put safety first do not allow their drivers to make uncontrolled U-turns at all,” said Joe Fried, an Atlanta attorney who specializes in traffic law. “Truckers are trained that they cannot begin to cross or enter traffic turns unless they can complete the maneuver without any other vehicles having to take any evasive action to avoid them.”

Police initially said Cochran made a legal U-turn, but after investigation, he was charged.

“We’re still talking with (state) traffic engineers because the road is not marked to prohibit a U-turn,” College Park Police Sgt. Keith Stanley said.

Still, Cochran initiated the turn from the right lane of Loop Road, which, according to state law, would render it illegal.

Investigators determined that the bus Boles was driving had no brake fluid, and the metal belts of the tires were showing through the outer rubber.

Maintenance records that MTI provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday showed that just three days before the wreck, staff marked all brake-related inspection checks “OK,” and no conditions were identified that would “prevent safe operation of this vehicle.”

Toye said Boles did contact maintenance staff on the day of the accident to report “soft” brakes.

She continued to drive the bus, however.

“She was instructed to check the brake fluid level and, if she found it to be low, to bring it in for fleet maintenance,” Toye said. “All MTI drivers understand that if vehicle operation or safety is ever in question, that they are to immediately take the vehicle out of operation and follow maintenance protocols.”

Of MTI’s 75 drivers on staff, 15 do not have CDLs and are supposed to drive only vehicles in the fleet that are not considered commercial passenger vehicles, officials said.

It is unclear how fast Boles was going on the 45-mph road, although police determined the bus skidded 158 feet before stopping.

Investigators are still using the distance the bus skidded and the amount of impact damage to determine the speed of the shuttle bus at the time Boles attempted to brake.

“There was definitely a lot of energy (on impact),” Stanley said. “That would put her well above the speed limit.”

Police are contacting both drivers to inform them to turn themselves in.