The driver involved in a fatal bus crash earlier this month failed to maintain his lane along a North Texas highway before the bus careened off the roadway and struck a concrete barrier, authorities said Monday.

A preliminary investigation found no defect with the Cardinal Coach Line bus, and instead cited an error by driver Loyd Rieve, 65, said Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Lonny Haschel.

The bus was taking senior citizens to a casino in Oklahoma when it struck the barrier in Irving and toppled over April 11, prompting a large emergency response. 

Two people were killed and more than 40 hurt in the immediate aftermath. Haschel said a third passenger died Sunday from injuries she suffered. 

Rieve was not immediately available for comment. A phone message left with Cardinal Coach Line, based in Mansfield, was not returned. 

Court records show Rieve was driving for another company in 1998 when he struck and killed a man who was trying to render aid at an accident scene on a highway near Dallas. A Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Rieve on a charge of negligent homicide stemming from the collision, but Rieve and his employer still faced two lawsuits claiming they were negligent. 

One lawsuit, filed by the family of the man who was killed, resulted in a jury finding Central West Motor Stages Inc. of Grand Prairie was negligent for employing Rieve. However, the jury awarded no damages, deciding the Samaritan, 22-year-old Chad Rosell of Detroit Lakes, Minn., was largely at fault. 

Rieve's wife, Gail Rieve, told The Associated Press earlier this month the bus struck Rosell because he jumped onto the road and the vehicle's brakes were faulty. 

"Loyd did everything he could to save those people on the bus and that young man," she said. 

Alice Stanley, 82, Paula Hahn, 69, and Sue Taylor, 81, were killed in the latest bus crash. The other 44 passengers sustained various injuries. Taylor, known as "Casino Sue," organized trips to casinos all over Oklahoma and Mississippi, complete with treats for riders and prizes for the biggest loser. 

Thirty-three high school students were injured after their school bus crashed into the woods along New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway on Monday afternoon.

By Monday evening, everyone hurt in the crash was evaluated and released from local hospitals, with only four students suffering more than minor injuries.

“The bus is about to tip over and I thought I was going to die,” said Infinity Watson, a student at Charter Tech who was on the bus at the time of the crash, which occurred just before 3:30 p.m.

State police said that the driver lost control of the bus, veering off the parkway and into trees on the side of the road. The bus left deep skid marks in the grass on the side of the parkway.

It appeared the crash was caused after an outer-rear wheel came off the bus while it was still in motion, investigators told NBCPhiladelphia.com. An inner-rear tire was also found to be attached to a bent axle. Investigators were still trying to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Tom Dugan, the owner of the bus company Safety Bus, confirmed that the bus recently needed re-inspection after an earlier annual inspection revealed problems that needed correcting.

Chopper 10 / NBC Philadephia

A bus carrying 36 New Jersey high school students careened off the Garden State Parkway on Monday afternoon, crashing into the woods on the side of the road.

Driver praised
Parents and students on the bus praised the driver for swerving off the roadway instead of into traffic.

“My daughter did say the bus driver did everything she could not to run into a car or hit the biggest tree possible,” said parent Michelle Griffin.

More from NBCPhiladelphia.com

All of the 36 students on board, as well as the driver, were taken to local hospital. Four students refused medical evaluation and left with their parents.

Most of the injuries were described as bumps and bruises, with some students complaining of neck and back pain.