A civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of a member of the Seton Hill University women’s lacrosse team who was seriously injured when the team’s bus veered of the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Carlisle and crashed into a tree March 16.

The accident claimed the life of the team’s pregnant coach and the bus driver. At least two players suffered serious injuries and were airlifted to Hersey Medical Center, including Amanda Michalski, 18, the plaintiff in the suit, who suffered multiple fractures and internal injuries.

“This is the latest in a long series of tragic and preventable bus accidents, requiring top to bottom review and reform of bus safety practices,” said attorney Shanin Specter, of Philadelphia-based Kline & Specter, P.C., who is representing Michalski, a freshman at Seton Hill, a Catholic liberal arts college near Pittsburgh.

The suit, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, names Mlaker Transportation, Inc., of Davidsville, Pa., as the defendant in the case. It claims the company’s driver, Anthony M. Guaetta, was negligent and reckless in the 8:45 a.m. crash that saw the bus strike a guardrail and then travel some 75 yards before hitting a tree.

The team’s head coach, Kristina Quigley, 30, of Greensburg, died of her injuries. She was about six months pregnant, according to news reports, and her unborn son did not survive. Michalski and a teammate were airlifted to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, while other passengers on the bus were treated and released at local hospitals.

The accident was one of many tragic mishaps involving buses in recent months, including crashes of Megabus carriers in the Syracuse and Boston areas, the latter of which resulted in injuries to 35 students and chaperones from the Philadelphia area who had traveled to Harvard. Last month, a tour bus collision in southern California resulted in eight deaths and dozens of injuries.

The article above provided by Kline & Specter, P.C.