Houston bus company involved in deadly Mexico crash has history of violations
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The bus company involved in the deadly bus crash in Mexico has a number of vehicle and driver violations from the past two years, according to federal data. None of those violations reached "acute or critical" status.
Pegasus VIP Travel and Tour Services, also operating as Pegasso Travel and Tours, had a much higher "out of service" rate than the national average for its reported 26 vehicles and 12 drivers.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, a driver or vehicle are determined as out of service when they are found to have a regulatory violation that could risk life or property.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Pegasso's out of service rate was 46.7 percent compared to the nationwide rate of 20.7 percent. The FMCSA rated Pegasso as satisfactory.
When looking at the company's history, many questions arrived.
A company named Pegasso Caballero Tours, listed with the same address as Pegasso Travel and Tours, was issued an out of service order for failing to pay a fine on June 11, 2014.
Records from the TxDMV showed that the company did not not have permission to pickup and drop off passengers inside the state. However, Pegasso Caballero Tours website appeared to sell tickets to destinations throughout Texas. The company did have authority to travel out of the state and internationally.
In the federal inspections, issues range from damaged windshields, fire extinguisher problems and none working emergency exits. Also, the buses were cited seven time for having brake problems.
On average, there were 14 violations found for every 10 inspections. We also looked at two of Pegasso's competitors who travel from Houston to Mexico, and found that they have far better safety records.
In Texas, we found business records with the Texas Secretary of State that appeared to show business compliance issues.
The bus that crashed Tuesday was most recently inspected on Jan. 26. The only violations at the time were related to the equipment the driver used to log hours behind the wheel.
ABC13 Investigates also checked the prices for each bus companies. The trip from Houston to Monterrey was the cheapest on Pegasso and the other two Houston carriers, with better safety records, charged more.
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