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A woman who suffered some pretty horrific injuries while on a double-decker bus made the decision to sue Starline Tours after hearing that a 16-year-old died on a similar tour this weekend.
Lauren Guerra was hit in the face by a tree branch in October while she was on the a privately chartered bus with Starline Tours, according to KTLA. She was on the roof of the bus, and the driver was going about 45 mph. Other passengers were ducking as the bus passed through trees—another passenger suffered minor injuries on the same trip. Guerra's were more severe as you can see in the photos taken after the incident. Part of her skull was fractured, her left eye socket was shattered and the muscle below her eye was damaged. She has had two surgeries and is planning to have another. She still suffers from double vision.
Guerra told KTLA that her friends convinced the driver of the bus to take her to a hospital, but it turned out to be closed so he dropped her off at her car. Guerra and her attorney Brian Kabateck say that they were planning to sue the company after her surgeries were completed, but they decided to take action sooner when they heard news about the death of 16-year-old Mason Zisette. He died after hitting his head on a 405 overpass, and Guerra says that made it clear that Starline Tours hadn't improved safety on double-decker bus tours since her injury.
"This death could completely have been prevented,” Guerra said.
The complaint against the company says passengers didn't receive any safety warnings about being on the top deck nor was there any staff on hand to supervise them.
"Taking people at high rates of speed, when the passengers don’t know exactly what’s coming, when they have no idea of what’s ahead of them, then hitting them and injuring them in this fashion is not responsible corporate citizenship," Kabateck said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Starline Tours hasn't commented on the case.
