Posted on 01/23/2004 10:46:49 AM PST by Arrowhead1952
Two transit agency buses were ruined by fire traced to defects, lawsuit contends
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, January 23, 2004
Capital Metro has sued a California company that it says sold the agency 162 buses that have a design defect that causes the engines to catch fire.
In 2002, fires destroyed two of the buses during their Austin bus routes, according to the lawsuit.
The buses, purchased from Gillig Corp. will cost $500,000 to replace, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Repairs to the other buses purchased from Gillig in 1998 have exceeded $165,000, the lawsuit states.
Investigators inspected the entire fleet from Gillig after the fires and determined that the lugs in an electrical panel needed to be tightened on every bus, said Libba Letton, a Capital Metro spokeswoman.
"At Gillig's recommendation, we began tightening and doing regular checks on electrical panels every 6,000 miles or two weeks, but we are asking for a permanent fix so we do not have to check them as often," Letton said.
The buses are still being driven in Austin, she said. It has not been determined how much it would cost to permanently fix each bus, she said.
A representative for Gillig declined to comment Thursday, saying he had not received the lawsuit.
Capital Metro's contract with Gillig for the 162 buses included a five-year or 300,000 mile warranty for each bus that covered engine defects, according to the lawsuit.
The warranties also required the company to repair all 162 buses if a defect is found in at least 20 percent of the fleet, according to the lawsuit.
The problems began when one of the buses, delivered by Gillig in 2000, caught fire Jan. 17, 2002.
Investigators determined the cause of the fire was an electrical short or overheating in one of the fuses or wiring connections near the engine.
An engine on a second bus caught fire Jan. 23, 2002. Investigators determined the cause was the same as with the first bus.
There were no injuries in either of the fires.
"Our bus drivers are well trained and got the passengers off the bus and safely away from it," said Bruce James, a lawyer for Capital Metro.
Settlement negotiations with Gillig failed before the lawsuit was filed, James said.
A lawsuit alleging the same kind of defects with buses made by Gillig has been filed in Arkansas, he said.
I once confronted him on this, and the perv told me that his butt was cleaner than most peoples pants.
Keep Austin Weird?
Not if that means that people can ride nearly bare-ass on public transportation.
I saw that POS on a street corner some time ago. He is an excellent example of the city's slogan:
Keep Austin Weird
I'll gladly take a 300,000 mile warranty on my next purchase! I don't want to have to spend $500,000 to get it though.
Oh the horror caused to our precious Mother Earth by these 2 burning buses. Will it never end?
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