He was a speed demon.
Bus driver Ophadell Williams revved his motor coach up to 78 mph during the tragic journey that ended with the deaths of 15 people on the New England Thruway in The Bronx, a federal investigator said yesterday.
Williams’ speed at the time of the crash, however, is unclear, National Transportation Safety Board officials said. It’s also not known exactly where his bus was when it reached 78 mph.
But Williams, 40, who once served prison time for manslaughter, clearly broke the speed limit sometime between leaving the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut and the deadly crash at 5:30 a.m. on March 12.
The speed limit on I-95 in Connecticut is 65 mph, and the speed limit for commercial vehicles on the stretch of highway where the bus crashed is 50 mph.
Separately, the federal Department of Transportation revoked the operating permit of Super Luxury Tour, the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., bus company involved in a March 14 New Jersey turnpike crash that killed two.