Woman sues Starline Tours over bus accident

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Lauren Guerra, 35, is suing Starline Tours for injuries she suffered on one of the company's chartered buses last October. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday.

Guerra says she was standing on the second level of the open top bus on Venice Boulevard during a party when a tree branch struck her on the head and in the eye. She says she suffered a fractured skull and severe eye injuries and has already undergone several surgeries to repair the damage to her eye.

"Pretty much everybody who was invited on the bus was on the top of the bus, beyond seating capacity," she said. "There were times when people had to duck under branches. I stood up at the wrong time and I got taken out going about 45 miles an hour by a rather large tree branch that shattered the bottom of my eye socket and also damaged the lower muscle of my eye."

So far, Guerra says, she has had to pay more than $20,000 in medical expenses out of her own pocket.

Her attorney, Brian Kabareck, would not specify the dollar amount they are seeking in the lawsuit, but says it is significant given her present and future medical needs.

"The reason we're filing this lawsuit today, even though my client hasn't completed her course of treatment and has by no way resolved the problem is because of the event that occurred this past week with the young man who was killed on the same type of bus," Kabareck said.

Mason Zisette, 16, of Manhattan Beach was killed on a Starline Tours double-decker bus on July 10. The teenager was standing on the upper section facing the back of the bus when his head struck a 405 Freeway overpass. He died after he was taken off of life support.

Guerra says she is infuriated that Starline Tours failed to take cautionary measures after she had her "face broken on the bus."

"After hearing about what happened to Mason and realizing that this company did nothing to prevent this from happening and having my face broken on the bus, they didn't take any steps to make sure that this didn't happen again

and this death could have completely been prevented, is infuriating and incredibly upsetting to me," Guerra said.

Starline Tours has not commented on Guerra's lawsuit.