BUS DRIVER HAD BEEN FIRED FOR DRUGS

NEW ORLEANS (AP) The driver of a charter bus that crashed and killed 22
people was fired from bus companies in 1996 and 1989 after testing positive
for marijuana four times, authorities said Thursday.

A federal investigator also confirmed a report that Frank Bedell, 46, tested
positive for marijuana when he was hospitalized Sunday after the bus veered
off a highway and plunged into an embankment.

It was not clear how long before the crash Bedell might have smoked
marijuana or whether the presence of the drug in his system contributed to
the accident, said Ken Suydam, the lead National Transportation Safety
Board investigator.

"It's another piece of the puzzle we have to put together," Suydam said.

The cause of the crash has yet to be determined. Bedell remains in a
hospital and is unavailable for comment.

Investigators are looking into reports that a car may have cut in front of
the bus just before it crashed. They have found no evidence that the bus had
any mechanical problems that might have contributed to the accident.

Bedell's medical history, which includes kidney and heart problems, has not
been linked to the accident by investigators. Investigators say the case
shows gaps in the system to make sure bus drivers are medically sound.

Bedell's history of testing positive for marijuana happened while employed
as a municipal bus driver in New Orleans and in suburban Jefferson Parish.
Authorities previously said he tested positive for cocaine in 1997 after
applying for a job with Greyhound.

Sometime after being hired in New Orleans in 1976, Bedell was given a drug
test because he had been absent for work for eight days, Suydam said. After
testing positive for marijuana, Bedell spent several months attending
classes in an employee assistance program.

But he later tested positive again for the drug and was fired in March 1989,
Suydam said.

In 1992, Bedell was hired as a driver for suburban buses. He failed a
marijuana drug test the next year, Suydam said. Bedell spent two months in a
drug rehabilitation program, but tested positive again for the drug in 1996
and was terminated a week later.

Authorities said Bedell passed at least three drug tests while working for
Custom Bus Charters, the company that provided the bus for the Mother's Day
gambling excursion to a Mississippi casino.

Custom president Donna Begovich said in a statement Thursday she was shocked
to learn Bedell tested positive for marijuana after the crash.

"Of course, Custom had no way of knowing Frank's drug usage at any time,"
Begovich said. "Frank Bedell passed his pre-employment drug test, the city's
drug test, a police background check and three subsequent random drug tests
within an 18-month period. What else could we have done?"

Custom officials have also said companies Bedell worked for previously never
told them that he had failed drug tests.