Greyhound crash from attack on driver prompts $8 million verdict

<p>A federal court jury returned an $8 million damage verdict against Greyhound Lines in a lawsuit stemming from a fatal crash when a passenger slashed the driver's throat with a box cutter.</p><p>Six passengers, including the attacker, were killed in the Oct. 3, 2001 crash on Interstate 24 between Nashville and Chattanooga. A seventh died later at a hospital and 34 others on board were injured.</p><p>The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Sharon Surles, who was traveling to visit relatives in Atlanta. After the crash she stayed in a hospital longer than a month and is permanently disabled.</p><p>Jurors, after listening to a week of testimony, deliberated about three hours before returning the compensatory damage verdict Wednesday for Surles, 59, of Saginaw, Mich.</p><p>"The main point for us is that Greyhound get the message. We think they will after this verdict," said Surles's attorney, Andrew Berke of Chattanooga.</p><p>Frederick Sager Jr., of Atlanta, an attorney for Dallas-based Greyhound, could not be reached by telephone for comment.</p><p>"Right now we are examining the verdict and will be making a decision on an appeal," said Greyhound spokeswoman Anna Folmnsbee.</p><p>Berke said other crash-related lawsuits were pending in Georgia.</p><p>The bus was traveling from Chicago to Orlando, Fla., when Damir Igric, a 29-year-old Croatian, attacked driver Garfield Sands around 4 a.m. as the bus was passing through Manchester.</p><p>Sands was admitted to a hospital with two 5-inch-long, 2-inch-deep cuts on his neck.</p><p>The attack prompted Greyhound to briefly shut down all bus service. Croatian media reported that Igric suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome.</p><p>Berke said Surles' medical costs have totaled about $1.6 million.</p><p>"She will never walk again," Berke said.</p><p>He said that in the four years before the crash, Greyhound had at least 43 incidents of a passenger attempting to assault a driver or grab the steering wheel of a moving bus.</p><p>"Despite the prevalence of attacks, Greyhound never did anything to protect its drivers," Berke said.</p><p>He said a Greyhound executive in 1997 had asked the manufacturer if they could "put protective barriers" between drivers and passengers.</p><p>After the accident, Greyhound officials said they were expanding use of metal detectors to screen passengers.</p><p>Berke said the company has since received government funding for barriers between passengers and drivers.</p>