Lawyer blames rail officials at NY bus crash trial

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- The trial of a New Jersey bus driver charged with the
deaths of four passengers in an upstate New York crash has opened with a defense
 lawyer blaming railroad and public officials for failing to fix a dangerously l
low overpass after numerous accidents.
   The lawyer tells an Onondaga  County judge that John Tomasz
ewski  had never been on the Onondaga Lake Parkway before but
 ended up there when a car blocked his usual route. Tomaszewski says he didn't see
the overpass outside Syracuse until just before his Megabus plowed into it on
 Sept. 11, 2010.
   Prosecutors said Tuesday that Tomaszewski was checking a personal global
positioning system device and ignored numerous warning signs.
   The 60-year-old from Yardville, N.J., chose a non-jury trial on four counts of
criminally negligent homicide.
   AP-WF-02-21-12 2117GMT