Fatal DWI Bus Driver Reportedly Had 1.75 Liter Jug Of Vodka

Steve Drappel being led from the police station (WCBS 2)

The tour bus driver charged with DWI after fatally hitting and dragging a pedestrian for blocks in Hell's Kitchen reportedly had a 1.75 liter jug of vodka on the bus with him. And the Post adds that he had a "silver travel mug nearly-emptied of vodka" and the Daily News says that Steve Drappel, 57, a Florida resident, initially blew a 0.14 on a breath test.

Additionally, Drappel allegedly later blew a 0.083 on a breath test, which is "more than twice the legal limit of .04 for commercial drivers and over the .08 limit for all drivers."

Drappel had been driving a bus full of tourists back to their hotel in NJ when he was turning left onto Ninth Avenue from West 47th Street on Saturday night. Timothy White, a 29-year-old Philadelphia resident who had been visiting a cousin in the city, was apparently struck by the back of the bus. The NY Times reports, "Mr. White was caught in the rear wheels of the bus and dragged dozens of feet. The driver stopped after being alerted by another pedestrian who had chased the bus, the police said." A relative says that White had been an inspiration, "He'd been fighting a lifetime of illness with heart disease. He could have fought his entire life - and then to be brought down like this."

The tour company, L&L, had hired the bus from Travelynx, a Florida company. Travelynx has not had any recent crashes, but the Post finds "Drappel, who attended Flushing HS in Queens, has been cited for a half-dozen traffic violations since 1997 -- including three car accidents, speeding and twice driving with a suspended license." Ironically, he is a member of the "I HATE PEOPLE WHO CAN'T DRIVE FOR SHIT" page on Facebook.

Drappel was charged with DWI and manslaughter.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 9, 2011 9:09 AM

Comments [rss]

mloctx

i knew Tim...what a loss..what a pity..what a waste for the world to lose such a wonderful, caring, loving (always, always smiling) person. he battled with health issues for some time...but i cant believe he went this way..so painful. we will so miss him! dear, sweet Tim, the angels needed you way more than we needed you down here. just tragic and truly heart breaking..my thoughts are with you and your family. oh Tim..last friday..no one could predict this..not even you, sweetie..just god. and now you're with him.

mloctx

i understand that most people that posted comments didnt know Tim..but its very, extremely inappropriate to make jokes about this terrible, fatal accident. its not funny, or easy going, or "lets look from this point of view." its just..inappropriate, disrespectful, and immature. FO!!

ANGRYGOD11

Why all this hate towards Steve Drappel? The man was nice enough to bring enough vodka for everybody on the bus.

Inkognita

Unfortunately, no one wanted any so he decided to drink all of it by himself.

hotguy

Motherfucker I hope you have a real bad time in jail. But sadly you will probably only get less than 5 in the big house!
How rye fuck can you get drunk and mow someone down at work????
Condolences to the family

Peanut_Butter

My first question is did no one on board notice his erratic driving?

Roncore

i'm pretty surprised that there is a legal BAC for commercial drivers at all. I'm all for having a beer at lunch, but when your job is driving, seems like it should be a red flag.

Unkle_Bob

As the blurb says, the commercial limit of .04 is half that of regular drivers. There has to be a stated limit because there are various legitimate causes for alcohol in the bloodstream (cough medicines with alcohol come to mind).

Inkognita

I'm amazed that none of Drappel's passengers complained about his inebriated state. Granted, vodka is supposed to be relatively odorless, but if Drappel had really consumed that much alcohol it must have been fairly obvious that he was too drunk to be driving a bus.

Unkle_Bob

How much do you actually interact with your bus driver? You're not talking with him. You're not walking with him. Someone who isn't talking or walking appears a lot less drunk then when they try to stand up.

Inkognita

The article says Drappel was driving a *tour* bus, so it's not unreasonable to think that he might have been giving some sightseeing commentary (albeit slurred) at some point.

Kate

They also might have had a separate person giving the commentary.

mloctx

yeah, his cousin!

Politburo

If he's a professional drunk, 0.14 isn't too much.

Seems like a weird incident, though. It's fairly unusual to get hit by the rear of a bus making a slow turn.

Spirit of 76

The back of the bus can swing in quickly in a tight turn. I've seen buses clip curbs.

Politburo

Yeah, that's true. And I forgot that's a one-way to one-way turn, so the bus could have taken it much tighter than they would have for a normal left turn.