Woman hit by bus now sued by passengers

GALVESTON - A paralyzed Galveston woman who recently sued the city of Galveston over an accident with one of its buses is herself a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit arising from the same incident.

Galveston locals Olga Zamora and Chassidy Jones allege Marie M. Alexis Volcy and the city's Island Transit contributed to the two-vehicle wreck on Jan. 12, court papers filed Aug. 30 in Galveston County District Court say.

According to the original petition, the plaintiffs were passengers on the 2008 Chevrolet GCII-5500 bus driven by employee Martin Filer that collided with Volcy in the 1400 block of 61st Street.

Volcy reportedly experienced a problem with the 1999 Mitsubishi Montero she drove and attempted to pull over to the right of the roadway although it had no shoulder.

The bus carrying the plaintiffs then struck the stalled vehicle. It was reported that the wreck crushed Volcy's 5th cervical disc.

Volcy filed suit against the city on Aug. 22.

Zamora and Jones blame the city for hiring and retaining Filer, who reportedly violated certain traffic rules and regulations.

They fault Volcy for failing to pay proper attention, operating a vehicle that was not in sound mechanical fashion, failing to remove said vehicle before it became disabled, failing to provide notice and failing to take proper evasive maneuvers.

Galveston local Garry Guillaume is named a defendant since the Montero belonged to him.

The plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages and are represented by attorney Lawrence M. Tylka of League City.

The case has been assigned to Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Wayne Mallia.

Case No. 11-cv-1387