WEAK BARRIERS LINKED TO DEATHS IN CRASH

NEW ORLEANS, May 20A bus crashed through a guard rail and plunged down an
embankment in part because the safety barriers had been weakened by
termites, according to lawyers representing the families of victims of the
Mother's Day crash.

The Custom Charters bus veered off Interstate 610 in New Orleans during a
gambling trip to a Mississippi casino, killing 22 of the 43 mostly elderly
passengers.

If the oak posts had not been weakened, the bus probably would have stayed
on the highway, sparing some of the victims, said Stephen Rue, who
represents the relatives of Jewell Williams, a retired teacher killed in the
crash.

"They crumble to your touch," Rue said, sticking a butter knife into a post.
The hole he made exposed hundreds of squirming little bugs. "This is
obviously a contributing factor in the tragedy," he said.

Twelve hours before the crash, the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, received
treatment in a hospital emergency room for dehydration andextremely low
blood pressure. There were traces of marijuana in his blood, and authorities
found that he had congestive heart disease, had lost two bus-driving jobs
because he used marijuana, had failed a test for cocaine and was undergoing
dialysis.

NTSB investigators say Bedell should not have been driving, but it is not
clear whether his health problems or drug use contributed to the crash.