Driver's manslaughter trial opens for NY bus crash
NEW YORK (AP) -- A manslaughter trial is scheduled to begin in New York City for the driver at the helm of a tour bus that crashed last year, killing 15 passengers and injuring 17.
Ophadell Williams has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. His trial begins Thursday. Williams was driving from a Connecticut casino to New York's Chinatown on March 12, 2011, when the accident happened at around 5:30 a.m.
The speeding bus ran off the road, hit a highway guardrail, then toppled and crashed into a sign pole that sheared off the roof front to back.
The National Transportation Safety Board said this year that the crash was probably caused because Williams had too little sleep and the bus company provided too little safety oversight.
Williams' attorneys say he was awake and alert.
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