Bus Driver Who Killed Five In Deadly Crash Speaks No English: Report

A deadly bus crash in Virginia has placed renewed scrutiny on commercial driver licensing standards after authorities said the driver involved is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from China who reportedly does not speak English.

The crash occurred early Friday morning on Interstate 95 and left five people dead, including two children. More than 40 others were injured in what has become one of the region’s most serious highway tragedies this year.

Investigators say the chain-reaction crash began when the bus driver failed to slow down and struck a Chevrolet Suburban. The impact forced the Suburban into an Acura SUV, setting off a multi-vehicle collision that quickly turned fatal.

“The Acura caught fire, police said. Four of the five people killed were in the Acura: a 45-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, all from Greenfield, Massachusetts, police said,” ABC News reported.

“The fifth victim killed, a 25-year-old woman, was in the Suburban, police said,” the outlet reported.

“Forty-four people were taken to hospitals, including three with critical injuries, police said,” ABC reported.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the driver of the motorcoach does not speak English and obtained his commercial driver’s license in Democrat-run New York in 2024.

Duffy issued a forceful statement on X, connecting the crash to the Trump administration’s broader effort to enforce road safety rules and crack down on unqualified commercial drivers.

Here’s Duffy’s full statement, posted to the X platform:

Update on the tragic bus crash in Virginia:

Five people are dead, including a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, after the driver of a motorcoach slammed into stopped traffic on I-95.

@FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs and our investigators are on the ground at the crash site working with the @NTSB.

Local police confirm the driver of this motorcoach — a man from China who became a U.S. citizen — doesn’t speak English. He received his commercial drivers license from New York State in 2024.

Unacceptable. This is exactly why we are holding states’ accountable, enforcing the rules of the road, and cracking down on drivers who can’t speak English.

If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus.

Our investigators are reviewing New York licensing records, training documentation, and the driver’s history. Any company, trainer, or school that contributed to putting an unqualified driver on the road will face intense scrutiny.

We’ll share more updates soon.

My prayers are with the loved ones of the innocent lives lost and those who were hurt in this horrific crime.

The crash comes amid a growing national debate over whether states are properly enforcing federal commercial driving standards, including English-language requirements designed to protect public safety on America’s highways.

In a related case earlier this week, Justice Clarence Thomas sharply criticized the Supreme Court for refusing to hear Florida’s lawsuit against California and Washington over commercial driver’s licenses issued to illegal aliens.

Florida argued that California and Washington were weakening public safety by allowing individuals without legal immigration status — and, in some cases, without sufficient English-language proficiency — to obtain commercial trucking licenses despite federal rules intended to govern interstate transportation.

The dispute attracted national attention following a deadly 2025 crash on the Florida Turnpike involving an undocumented truck driver reportedly licensed through California or Washington.

According to Florida’s lawsuit, the driver allegedly made an illegal U-turn and was unable to properly interpret roadway signage, leading to a collision that killed three people.

Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, argued that the Supreme Court had a constitutional duty to hear the dispute because conflicts between states fall directly within the high court’s jurisdiction.

The majority denied Florida’s request without explanation.

Thomas criticized the decision, warning that when the Supreme Court refuses to hear a controversy between states, the complaining state may be left with no legal path forward.

“If this Court does not exercise jurisdiction over a controversy between two States, then the complaining State has no judicial forum in which to seek relief,” Thomas wrote.

The Virginia crash is now likely to intensify questions over state licensing practices, federal enforcement, immigration policy, and whether politically liberal states are creating risks that extend far beyond their own borders.

For conservatives, the issue is not complicated: commercial driving is a public safety responsibility, not a political experiment. Anyone entrusted with a bus full of passengers or a heavy truck on an interstate highway must be able to understand road signs, communicate with law enforcement, and meet every federal safety standard before being allowed behind the wheel.

As President Donald Trump’s administration continues pressing for stricter enforcement, the Virginia tragedy may become a defining example in the fight over whether America’s roads will be governed by serious safety rules or by lax state policies with deadly consequences.