The death of 15 individuals in a horrific New York State bus crash has called into question how an individual with a driving suspension, multiple driving infractions, and a criminal record even got behind the wheel.
Williams has a history of check forgery, theft and manslaughter charges for playing a role in a 1998 stabbing incident.
Williams told authorities that a tractor-trailer speeding down the freeway clipped the bus causing it to fly out of control. However, witnesses stated the contrary, saying the doomed bus was flying down the roadway at breakneck speed before flipping and smashing into a freeway sign.
While all industry drivers are required to maintain a daily log of distance driven and hours behind the wheel, an examination showed Williams had not logged any entries for days prior to the crash.
Investigators are trying to figure out how long he had been driving, how much sleep he had and if food or beverages consumed by him were a factor.
State driving records showed Williams had been driving the bus on a suspended license since 1995 after disregarding tickets for speeding and driving without license.
Investigators want to know how was he able to obtain and hold onto a commercial driver’s license. How was he even behind the wheel of a passenger bus?
And the more you examine this man’s past, the worse this story gets. Additional information brought to light were prison stints for check forgery, theft and manslaughter charges for playing a role in a 1998 stabbing incident.
New York State inspection records show that World Wide Travel Bus Line, who employed Williams, has been cited repeatedly for drivers not logging their drive time or falsifying driving records.
It may be that the bus company willingly set Ophadell Williams to work without conducting a proper background screening or they may have simply ignored the results of his pre-employment screening. It’s one of many safety concerns that federal safety investigators say have been ignored for years by cut-rate bus companies.
Naturally, World Wide Travel is declining comment at this time as to how Williams was hired. An ongoing investigation will likely be the only way to determine who made the hiring decision and what information it was based upon.
If a background report is found to be absent or if available information was willfully ignored in the hiring process, Ophadell Williams might just have a World Wide Travel executive as a cell mate.
Every company should evaluate the duties and responsibilities of the position to select the right reports prior to initiating a background report. Structured correctly, you will get back the information you need to make an informed hiring decision that reduces liability, saves money and in some cases, save lives.
