Tour bus company negligent in motorcyclist's injuries
WAILUKU » A Maui Circuit Court jury has returned a verdict against a tour bus firm and its driver in an accident that caused severe injury to a motorcyclist.
Charles Amerio, 38, of Lahaina was on a motorcycle on a hotel service road when a Roberts Tours & Transportation Inc. bus backed into him.
Amerio suffered permanent neck, shoulder, arm and lower back injuries, his attorney James Krueger said.
Krueger said the lawsuit had charged that Roberts and its driver Samson Vinuya were negligent.
Krueger alleged that Vinuya had 11 company warnings, including speeding and causing accidents, and that Roberts had failed to provide a spotter on the bus, knowing that each bus had a blind spot.
In the verdict Tuesday, the amount of comparative negligence against Roberts and Vinuya amounted to $280,000, Roberts' attorney George Van Buren said.
"The jury carefully considered the evidence, the judge was fair and impartial, and we believe the decision was fair," Van Buren said.