Bus that crashed near Mexican Hat may have been going slower than first thought

The San Juan County attorney says no additional charges will be filed against the driver of the bus that plunged off a road last year and killed nine people, in part because a Utah Highway Patrol investigation conflicts with federal findings.

A UHP investigator who reviewed video from the bus found it was traveling only about five miles per hour beyond the 65 mph speed limit and that speed was not a factor in the crash.

"We just think he flat ran off the road," UHP Sgt. Rick Eldredge said Thursday.

"There was some speed, but I'm not sure it was excessive," said San Juan County Attorney Craig Halls.

However, a report issued in April by the National Transportation Safety Board estimated the commercial bus was traveling 88 miles per hour.

Bus driver Welland Lotan last year pleaded guilty in San Juan County's justice court to a lane change violation and failure to maintain a proper commercial driver's log, and paid $232 in fines.

Lotan answered the phone at his home in Michigan on Thursday, but gave only a brief statement.

"I'm having such a time handling the death of them people," Lotan said. "My heart goes out to them, and that's all I can say. I'm still having a tough time putting my finger on what happened, and that's all I'm going to say."

On Jan. 6, 2008, a charter bus carrying 52 passengers was returning to Phoenix from a ski trip in Telluride, Colo. On U.S. Highway 163 near Mexican Hat, the bus

missed a curve, rolled into a drainage ditch and ejected 50 people.

Nine passengers died and 43 suffered injuries. The NTSB report rebuked the federal government for failing to require seat belts on buses or boost roof and window strength as the board has recommended for more than a decade.

But the report also blamed the driver, Lotan, who was 71 years old at the time, for what it said was drowsy driving and excessive speed. Lotan, according to the report, suffered from sleep disorders, did not sleep well in the high altitude of Telluride and had a cold.

Eldredge said his investigation did not find egregious behavior by Lotan to merit further charges, such as negligent homicide.

Because the NTSB would not provide UHP with the video from the bus's interior camera, Eldredge traveled to Omaha, Neb., to view a copy belonging to the bus company, Arrow Stage Lines.

Eldredge watched the video for landmarks then used them to calculate the bus' speed. He said the bus was traveling 68 to 70 mph in the seconds before the crash. Passengers also were visible on the video, Eldredge said, and showed no signs that anything was wrong.

Eldredge said troopers also borrowed a school bus and had a driver take the same curve at 70 mph. The driver had no problems, Eldredge said, and the charter bus had better steering and suspension than the school bus.

In all, Eldredge said, speed does not appear to have been a factor in the crash.

"I think [Lotan] was just not paying any attention," Eldredge said.

In an interview shortly after the crash, Eldredge said, Lotan told a trooper he was driving about 68 mph and he had gotten a decent night's sleep before leaving Telluride.

A spokeswoman for the NTSB, Bridget Serchak, said the board stands by its estimate of 88 mph. She said the NTSB analysis used computers and studied various camera angles.

"I am unaware of any program available to law enforcement or the private sector with this level of sophistication," Serchak said in an e-mail.

The Tribune attempted to contact families of those killed. They either declined comment or did not return messages.

ncarlisle@sltrib.com