The man who was behind the wheel of a tour bus returning to New York City on the Thruway last summer when it rolled over and killed five passengers has pleaded guilty in court.
Bin Shao, 56, had told investigators that he was reaching for a water bottle when he lost control of the bus on a stretch of the I-90 near Pembroke. It was carrying more than 50 people; tourists who had just visited Niagara Falls.
Shao plead guilty to five counts of criminally negligent homicide inside a Batavia courtroom, Monday.
The driver was originally facing five counts of manslaughter when he was arraigned in February. But, Genesee County District Attorney Kevin Finnell said those charges would have been harder to get a conviction because prosecutors would had to prove Shao knew his actions were irresponsible.
"What he did was to take his eyes off the road to search for this bottle, and the manslaughter charge requires that he intentionally disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a death will occur, whereas the criminally negligent homicide requires that he failed to perceive it," said Finnell in audio shared by the Daily News of Batavia. "[Shao's] taking responsibility for the deaths of these five people, and he is admitting to the criminal negligence."
According to Daily News of Batavia reporter Sol Hauser, Shao did not say much in the courtroom, but appeared "visibly distraught."
"He's carrying a tremendous amount of guilt and feeling terrible about what happened, and just understanding that what he did for literally 20 seconds affected all these people's lives," said Shao's defense attorney Daniel Lynch, after the plea. "Not just the people who passed away, unfortunately, but also the people who were injured. He's seriously injured, but it's going to affect him for the rest of his life, and he's expressed great remorse about this."
Five people died in the crash, and dozens were transported to several area hospitals with serious injuries. First responders said many were entrapped in the bus after it rolled over into a ditch, and some passengers were ejected during the crash.
Sentencing for Shao is scheduled for September 9, 2026.
