Novelos pledges support in bus death investigation

The management of Novelos Bus Line has made its position clear in the wake of last Monday’s death of one of its passengers under controversial circumstances. While police try to figure out whether fifteen year old Taneisha Trapp jumped or was pushed out of a Novelos bus as it sped along the Western Highway, the company has announced that it is conducting its own investigation into the incident. In the meantime, the driver and conductor have been suspended from duty until the investigation is complete and all operational policies are being reviewed. Novelos is appealing to any person who may have information, which will help the investigation to please come forward and contact the police. Trapp mistakenly got on a Novelos express bus from Belmopan to San Ignacio. When the bus driver declined to stop to let her off at the intermediate destination of Camalote Village, she allegedly stepped off the bus while it was still moving and died as the result of head injuries suffered when she fell. Family members have raised a number of questions about what happened on the bus. Among them are: if Taneisha wasn’t pushed by the conductor, why was she allowed to jump? And in any case, why didn’t the driver simply stop the bus when she told him that she needed to get off?