The family of Jesus Reyna, one of the prisoners killed in the Penwell Bus crash back in 2015, have filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Texas Department of Transportation.

Reyna was one of ten people killed in the crash when the bus, traveling from Abilene to El Paso, hit a guardrail, left the roadway, went airborne and collided with a Union Pacific train back on Jan. 14, 2015, according to previous reports.

Two correctional officers were killed in the crash along with eight inmates, according to previous reports.

The lawsuit claims the driver of the bus, a correctional officer, was “driving at a rate of speed not reasonably prudent considering the icy road conditions…..”the bus’ high rate of speed caused the bus to go over the metal guard rail and down en embankment,” according to the suit filed Wednesday in Ector County.

Furthermore the lawsuit claims that the Texas Department of Transportation “failed to repair the severely damaged guardrail, failed to warn motorists of the potentially adverse conditions on roadways and bridges, and failed to properly train its personnel in accordance with its established snow and ice control guidelines and policy….It was Defendants’ negligence, negligence per se, and/or malice or gross negligence which proximately caused the personal injuries and untimely death suffered by Reyna.”

The National Transportation Safety Board issued their final report on the crash on May 11 and stated the primary causes were a displaced guardrail. The Board also issued recommendations to TxDOT on treating roads during icy conditions.

A spokesman for the NTSB issued the following statement regarding the crash.

“​The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the January 14, 2015, crash near Penwell, Texas, was the bus loss of control due to striking the portion of damaged guardrail intruding into the left travel lane of Interstate 20 westbound. Contributing to the crash was the displaced and damaged condition of the guardrail due to multiple previous impacts by other vehicles in separate crashes, attributed to icy road conditions in the eastbound lanes.”

The TDCJ also issued a statement following the final NTSB report calling the crash a “tragic accident.”

“The NTSB report confirms that this was a tragic accident caused by a damaged guard rail. The TDCJ bus struck a portion of guardrail that was damaged by a previous accident and was partially lying in the lane of travel of our bus. The bus struck the damaged guard rail with its front left tire and the collision caused the bus to abruptly steer left. The bus then traveled over an undamaged portion of the guard rail, off of the bridge and onto a passing train. As an agency, we continue to mourn the lives of those lost in this accident and we ask that the public continue to keep Officer Self and the offenders who were injured accident in their thoughts and prayers.”

(Information from YourBasin.com)