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Accidents are often the result of somebody else’s negligence. A federal judge ordered a bus company involved in an Arizona crash that killed six people and injured more than a dozen others to cease interstate operations, according to a newly published Associated Press report.

On March 6, 2010, U.S. District Judge George King of the Central District of California in Los Angeles issued the order against Tierra Santa Inc. and its owner, Cayetano Martinez. Martinez earlier signed a consent decree prohibiting him or any affiliated company from hauling passengers without U.S. Department of Transportation authority, which is required to take passengers from one state to another.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration demanded Van Nuys, Calififornia based Tierra Santa stop operating on March 5, 2010, the day of the crash south of Phoenix. The judge’s order makes the shutdown enforceable by the court.

“They knew they were running illegally,” Duane DeBruyne, a Department of Transportation spokesman in Washington, D.C., said.

A federal complaint to be filed against the company today says the motor carrier administration previously shut down Martinez, who then attempted “to reincarnate himself as a new carrier” that unsuccessfully sought Department of Transportation operating authority, the department said in a news release Sunday.

“Martinez has shown a persistency and determination to continue operating under new entities and businesses,” the release quotes the complaint as saying.

The bus that crashed entered the United States from Mexico at El Paso, Texas. It was headed to Phoenix to change drivers when it hit a pickup truck, veered onto the left shoulder of the road and rolled on Interstate 10 on the Gila River Indian Reservation. The impact crushed the roof and knocked out the windows.

More than a dozen passengers remained hospitalized over the weekend.

Tierra Santa applied last April for operating authority to haul passengers across state lines. The Department of Transportation notified the company by registered mail that it could not conduct interstate transportation during the review, DeBruyne said.

The agency sought more information for the application but the company never responded. In December, the department sent another certified letter telling the company it had run out of time and was not authorized to take passengers across state lines, DeBruyne said.

The consent decree does not prevent civil penalties against Martinez for possible violations of motor carrier safety regulations, transportation officials said.

According to a recent Associated Press news report, on February 22, 2010, a bus carrying senior citizens on a cultural tour was struck by a car and rolled over on a rural Florida highway, killing two people and critically injuring three others, authorities said.

The bus with 32 people aboard had just visited murals in Lake Placid, Florida and was headed back to a nearby hotel when the accident took place. A car turning onto the highway failed to yield and struck the side of the bus, a Florida Highway Patrol crash report said. The bus ran off the road and rolled over at least twice, ejecting several passengers.

The patrol said two died at the scene, while three had critical injuries. The rest of the injuries ranged from serious to minor, and all but one of the people on the bus were taken to local hospitals. The driver of the car wasn’t injured.

The passengers, who ranged in age from 66 to 87, had traveled to the area from around the United Sates to participate in an educational program affiliated with South Florida Community College in Avon Park.

On January 26, 2010, the United States government banned hand-held texting by drivers of large commercial trucks and buses to avoid the danger of distracted drivers according to a Reuters news report. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement the prohibition takes effect right.

“We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe,” LaHood said. “This is an important safety step and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.”

The new ban carries fines of up to $2,750.

Research by trucking regulators show that drivers take their eyes off the road for much of the time that they send and receive text messages, and they are significantly more at risk of getting into an accident than someone who is not texting.

The National Safety Council, a research and advocacy group estimates that 200,000 crashes of all types on U.S. roads are caused by drivers who are texting. Nearly two dozen U.S. states ban “texting” while driving for all motor vehicles and others are considering similar action.