WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Federal investigators now say fatigue played a major role in a party bus crash that killed three people near Williamsburg roughly two years ago.
Watch previous coverage: 3 dead, others injured after tractor-trailer and bus crash on I-64 in York County
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2022, a party bus was going around 20 miles per hour down I-64 when it was rear-ended by a semi going around 65 miles per hour.
Three people, 25-year-old Xzavier Evans, 21-year-old Jontae Russel, and 19-year-old Montia Bouie were killed in the crash. Twenty others were sent to the hospital.
A newly released report from the NTSB says the truck driver was fatigued from "excess driving time and lack of sleep opportunity."
The report says the truck’s motor carrier, Triton Logistics, fabricated driver accounts for its vehicles’ electronic logging device systems. This allowed drivers to bypass the federal driving limit and drive while fatigued, the report explained.
Watch previous coverage: Families want answers following deadly I-64 bus crash
The report also says the bus was going significantly slower than the truck, which contributed to the severity of the crash.
The NTSB is calling on state and federal authorities to strengthen electronic logging and implement fatigue management in order to prevent crashes like this.
The report says the federal motor carrier safety administration should strengthen electronic logging device requirements to prevent opportunities to create fake driver accounts.
Watch: Family of York County party bus crash victims calls for charges
Thomas Dudley, who owns Dudley CDL School in Newport News, says truck drivers can only drive up to 11 hours in a day in Virginia.
"They are supposed to keep a log. Those logs are important because if you’re going over your time, it’s going to mess you up on your job and you could get fired as well," explained Dudley.
Following the report's release, News 3's Leondra Head spoke to Daqwone Hill. Many of Hill's loved ones were hurt in the crash, including his brother Xzavier Evans who died from his injuries.
"Not only did my nephew lose his father, his mother was on the bus. His grandmother was on the bus. His aunts were on the bus. My nephew could have lost an entire family. His grandma had to go through multiple knee surgeries," Hill said.
Initially, police said they were pursuing charges against both drivers, but now prosecutors say no charges will be filed in this case.
