A Gwinnett County woman recounted the terrifying moments a metro Atlanta-bound bus flipped over onto its side during a Virginia snowstorm early Monday morning.
"The impact was terrible," said passenger Shanora Moore of Lawrenceville. "All you heard was screams."
Virginia State Patrol troopers said the Princess Tours Inc. bus was heading south on I-95 near Stafford, Virginia when the driver lost control and flipped the bus onto its side. Investigators said there were 54 passengers onboard. Four people were seriously injured, but none were considered life-threatening.
Troopers have charged the driver, 50-year old Quilong Xioa, with reckless driving. They said it appears speed was a factor in the crash.
Moore was returning home after teaching cosmetology classes in New York. The bus was due to arrive in Doraville at 12:30 p.m.
Moore said around 4 a.m., the driver seemed worried he could not find gas and started driving faster through the snow.
"I said, we're going to get in a car wreck, and as soon as I said that, we started fishtailing," said Moore. "We fishtailed and did a half of a 360, and ended up on our right side."
The family of another metro Atlanta passenger, Maxine Jackson, said she broke a rib in the crash. Jackson's neice said another passenger and his luggage fell on her aunt.
Moore described the scene moments after the impact.
"I was on the left side, so I was holding onto the seat that was ahead of me, because if I dropped, my weight down, I would've killed the two people that was under me.
U.S. Department of Transportation records show Princess Tours Inc. buses did not have a single accident in two years; however, the same records show its drivers were cited three different times for speeding.
