I-95 quintuple fatal: Federal agency subpoenas state of New York

By Alan Wooten
The Center Square

Failure to willingly cooperate by the state of New York has led to a subpoena for documents related to Jing Dong.

The U.S Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Monday gave the state until 10 a.m. on Wednesday to produce any and all documents for Dong in the issuance of his initial CDL, entry-level driver training, and the 7 CDL Driving School. The subpoena said failure to comply will subject the state to penalties, with possibilities also of civil or criminal contempt.

Dong faces two felony charges of involuntary manslaughter in a quintuple fatal crash in Virginia on Interstate 95. The bus is operated by E&P Travel, headquartered in Kings Mountain, N.C., and carried riders from New York to North Carolina.

A family of four traveling from Massachusetts to South Carolina for a Sunday wedding were killed; a woman from Massachusetts, in the first vehicle hit by the motor coach, also lost her life.

The Stafford County crash involved at least eight vehicles stopped or moving slowly in a work zone. Investigators and federal officials say there was little to no evidence of braking by Dong.

“I have determined that probable cause presently exists to establish that the driver of the tour bus caused this crash, and, at the time of crash, he was driving in a criminally negligent manner,” said Eric Olsen, a commonwealth’s attorney for Stafford County.

Two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter have been filed.

Most signage in America, including electronic emergency messaging, is in English. Congressional action includes at least a half-dozen proposals related to CDL licensures. The Transportation Department in February instituted a rule requiring CDL tests to be English only.

Dong does not speak English, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said after the crash. He also said the CDL was issued by New York in 2024.

Dong immigrated from China to America and became a citizen.

New York has been in hot water with federal agencies already, losing $73 million in April by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for failing to revoke “illegally issued nondomiciled commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses.

North Carolina isn’t immune either. An eastern North Carolina Baptist church, the Head Start program and a community college are among the entities hit with involuntary closures of CDL training programs.

Dong, 48, is in custody while being treated at the hospital. A magistrate has approved holding him without bond until he’s released from the hospital for a first court appearance.