Five people are still hospitalized in Augusta after a charter bus headed to the Masters tournament crashed on Interstate 20 on April 5.
Three patients are still in the care of Augusta University Medical Center, a spokesman said. All are in good condition. The hospital has treated seven passengers, five of whom were in serious condition immediately after the crash. Doctors Hospital of Augusta still had a patient in serious condition and another in good condition by Monday afternoon.
PREVIOUSLY | Masters-bound bus crash injures 15; driver charged with DUI
The bus driver, Steven Hoppenbrouwer, 61, of Buford, was charged with DUI and failure to maintain lane after the Thursday morning crash. He also faces seven counts of serious injury by vehicle.
Hoppenbrouwer posted a $20,400 bond on Friday, April 6, and waived his first appearance hearing in Columbia County court, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Fifteen of the 18 passengers on the bus were transported to area hospitals with injuries, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Hoppenbrouwer was the only person in the vehicle that was not injured after it overturned onto a median 10 miles outside Augusta, according to a GSP accident report released Monday.
The bus trip began in Atlanta, and passengers began to feel uncomfortable with Hoppenbrouwer’s driving a half hour after leaving, passenger Kip Plowman said in a video released by Doctors Hospital on Thursday.
Hoppenbrouwer swerved off the road and then jolted the bus back into its lane, Plowman said. Less than two hours later, Hoppenbrouwer swerved off the road again and overcorrected, jerking the bus back onto I-20, causing it to overturn onto a median, according to the GSP report.
Hoppenbrouwer was driving a charter bus owned by Suwanee-based Jet Executive Limo, according to Georgia State Patrol. The company again declined to comment on the crash Monday.
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Watch: Passenger Kip Plowman details the crash
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