View this article online: https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/west/2011/02/04/180419.htm
A Butte, Mont., transportation company is suing the manufacturer of a bus it alleges wasn’t designed to sufficiently protect passengers during a 2007 rollover crash that killed a woman and injured 26 others.
The Montana Standard reports Tucker Transportation and its insurance companies sued Oswego, Kan.-based Diamond Coach Corp. in District Court in Butte.
On Nov. 16, 2007, a Tucker-owned Diamond Coach taking Montana State Prison employees from Butte to Deer Lodge struck a deer and rolled on Interstate 90, killing 54-year-old Sonja L. Ryan.
The suit alleges hitting the deer caused the bumper to jam into the left tire, sending the bus out of control. The lawsuit also alleges a manufacturing defect caused the walls and roof of the bus to “disintegrate” as it rolled.
Diamond Coach officials declined comment.