A South Carolina church that owned the bus involved in a collision that killed four people in September was ordered on Monday to stop for-hire operations, federal authorities said.
Sandy River Baptist Church failed to make sure its drivers were properly licensed and followed rules about rest, according to the order from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The church’s bus operations were “reckless, with almost nonexistent management supervision,” the agency ruled.
The bus owned by the Chester church was carrying the Ramah Jucco Academy football team from Rock Hill to an away game when it crashed Sept. 17 in Hamlet, North Carolina.
Four people, including bus driver Brian Kirkpatrick, died after the bus had a flat tire and slammed into a guardrail and bridge support on U.S. Highway 74.
The bus, listed as a private carrier, was not allowed to carry passengers for money like a charter company, federal officials said.
A phone call to the church went unanswered Monday.
The church had no records of whether it checked to see if its drivers had proper licenses, any tickets on their records or whether they had passed drug tests, according to the order. No records were kept on how long drivers were on the road or whether they passed drug tests, federal officials said.
It wasn’t clear if the church had any drivers other than Kirkpatrick.
Related:
- Charter Bus Crashes Into North Carolina Overpass Killing 4, Injuring At Least 40
- Survivors of North Carolina Crash that Killed 4 Sue Church That Owned Bus
Topics South Carolina Church
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