Passengers, Relatives Settle on N.J. Bus Crash

Both injured passengers and relatives of eight people killed in the Christmas Eve 1998 crash of a casino-bound bus on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway will split $15 million under a deal that puts to rest 14 lawsuits, according to the Associated Press.

The two companies that leased the bus to Bruins Transportation agreed to share the cost of claims filed in New Jersey and New York City. Both Bruins and its insurer went out of business.

Firstar Corp., Cargill Leasing and their subsidiaries, which were in the process of selling the bus when the crash occurred, did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.

Settlement amounts differ from a few hundred thousand dollars for those with less severe injuries to several million dollars for injured passengers who lost spouses and to a woman who required a leg to be amputated.

The bus, carrying 23 mostly elderly passengers from Brooklyn to Atlantic City, skidded across three lanes of traffic and tumbled down an embankment a rest area in Sayreville. A light amount of snow had fallen before the crash.

Topics New Jersey