OCALA, FL (352today.com) – As details of the deadly farm bus crash on State Road 40 unfolded on Tuesday, an outpouring of support began to emerge.
The bus was carrying 53 Mexican citizens headed to work in the fields at Cannon Farms in Dunnellon. It’s watermelon picking season.
Eight of those workers died, dozens more were injured when the bus collided with a pickup truck, ran off the road and overturned in a horse pasture in western Marion County.
The Florida Highway Patrol arrested the pickup truck driver and charged him with eight counts of DUI-manslaughter. 41-year-old Bryan Howard is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday morning.
Cannon Farm was closed on Tuesday out of respect for the lives lost and will remain closed on Wednesday.
“Thank you to all who have reached out and offered condolences, help and prayers” for the families and loved ones involved in the crash, Cannon Farms posted on its Facebook page.
As prayers and condolences filled the farm’s Facebook page, owners directed followers to a fundraising campaign to help the victims and their families.
A GoFundMe campaign organized by the Farmworker Association of Florida is hoping to raise $50,000. By Wednesday morning, it was halfway to the goal. More than 400 donations totaling nearly $25,000 had already come in. Donations range from $5 to $1,000.
“Farmworkers tend to be forgotten, but it’s important not to forget farmworkers, especially during such difficult times,” the GoFundMe post said.
On Tuesday, Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, said via the social media platform X that she was sorry to report that a tragic automotive accident had happened in Florida with Mexican agricultural workers involved.
The Mexican consulate in Orlando was working to find out more and provided an emergency phone number for families to contact, according to a post on X.
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The bus transporting the workers is owned and operated by Olvera Trucking. According to the Associated Press, the company recently advertised for a temporary driver who would bus workers to watermelon fields and then operate harvesting equipment. The pay was $14.77 an hour.
A Labor Department document shows Olvera recently applied for 43 H-2A workers to harvest watermelons at Cannon Farms this month. The company again offered a base rate of $14.77 an hour, with promises of housing and transportation to and from the fields.
The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or agents who meet certain regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals into the country to fill temporary agricultural jobs. Florida farms employ more H-2A workers than any other state, about 50,000 a year, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
Federal statistics show that vehicle crashes were the leading cause of job-related deaths among farmworkers in 2022, the latest year available. They accounted for 81 of 171 fatalities. It was not immediately known if the bus had seat belts.
Authorities in several states have been pushing for greater regulations for the safety of farmworkers, who are overwhelmingly migrants.
The Labor Department announced new seat belt requirements for employer vehicles used for farmworkers on temporary visas, among other worker protections that take effect June 28. The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association has been opposed, calling the seat belt requirement “impractical.”
State law requires seat belts for farmworker transport using smaller vehicles, weighing less than 10,000 pounds.
Two groups that advocate for farmworkers issued statements calling for stricter laws to protect them from harm.
“It is too easy to dismiss this as just another accident,” said Asia Clermont, Florida director for the League of United Latin American Citizens. “Florida must take every possible step to protect its essential workers, who are human beings and the backbone of the state’s economy.”
Ty Joplin of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers said transportation laws for farmworkers are often unenforced.
“While accidents will happen, protecting workers while transporting them with mandatory and enforceable safety provisions, like seat belts and safety inspections, can reduce injuries and deaths,” he said.