After months of painstaking investigation, driver error was determined as the cause of a San Francisco tour bus crash which injured 19 people.
However no criminal charges will be filed because ‘there wasn’t any crime’ District Attorney spokesman Alex Bastian said.
In November an open-topped tour bus struck a cyclist and then ploughed into several cars before finally coming to a stop after it struck scaffolding at a construction site.
Nineteen people were injured in the crash, with 16 taken to a hospital.
California Highway Patrol investigators said driver Kenneth Malvar, 53, was speeding, although Malvar says the vehicle had faulty brakes, throttle and steering, which contributed to the crash.
CHP investigators said there was no evidence of that.
"Our inspection did not reveal any pre-existing mechanical conditions or failures that would have affected the safe operations of this vehicle on the highway. All damage that was evident was determined to be as a result of this collision," said CHP Capt. Christopher Sherry at a news conference.
Malvar’s lawyer Robert Cartwright said his client is unfairly being blamed and maintains the braking system was faulty.
"The easiest way to come to a conclusion when you can’t find the mechanical cause is simply blame the driver," Cartwright said.
Since the incident state lawmakers have introduced new laws to beef up safety inspections in the tour bus industry.
In the days after the crash it was discovered bus owner CS Global had not registered the vehicle and so it was not liable to mandatory safety checks.
