Jing Sheng Dong, a Chinese-born bus driver whose crash on I-95 killed five, was indicted on five felony charges and is under investigation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
Monday, June 1, the crash became the basis for a legal battle between the Department of Transportation and New York, where DOT said Dong got his CDL.
DOT subpoenaed the state for records of how Dong got his CDL and the school where he completed required entry-level training.
New York responded to DOT's subpoena by saying Dong had actually took his road test for the CDL in Virginia, and that the federal authorities were "heartless" in their attempts to politicize the deadly crash.
This comes after DOT said Dong failed his English language proficiency test, likewise local media reports alleging the driver had prior speeding violations.
The crash and resulting investigation
According to NTSB, Dong was traveling south on I-95 in Virginia in the wee hours Friday, May 29, when he approached a work zone and the worst happened.
Around 2:35 a.m., according to NTSB investigators, a "motor coach operated by E&P Travel of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, carrying passengers from New York to North Carolina approached the work zone in the vicinity of mile marker 146 on Interstate 95 near Stafford, Virginia."
E&P's most recent FMCSA filing lists just four vehicles and 11 drivers. Records show three recent driver inspections resulting in one out-of-service violation. The 33.3% driver-OOS rate is well above the 6.67% national average.
The September 2025 OOS violation was for failing to meet English language proficiency standards, according to data from Overdrive parent company Fusable's Central Analysis Bureau.
As traffic bunched up on I-95 near Quantico, Dong's bus "struck the rear of the traffic queue, causing a chain reaction crash involving multiple other vehicles," NTSB said.
Within 24 hours, FMCSA and NTSB investigators were on the scene.
"Five people are dead, including a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, after the driver of a motorcoach slammed into stopped traffic on I-95," DOT Secretary Sean Duffy said of the crash.
Local authorities threw the book at Dong.
"Virginia State Police has charged Jing Sheng Dong with two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, and a Stafford County Grand Jury has indicted Jing Sheng Dong on an additional three involuntary manslaughter counts, as well as a misdemeanor reckless driving charge," a spokesperson for the county attorney's office told Overdrive.
Duffy said that FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs, usually stationed not far off in Washington, D.C., was "on the ground at the crash site working with the NTSB."
Duffy went on to say that Dong was "a man from China who became a U.S. citizen" and that he "doesn’t speak English."
FMCSA v. New York
Dong's CDL was issued by New York State in 2024, DOT said. The entire arc of the driver's crash fit neatly within Duffy's crackdown on foreign and non-English speaking drivers, ongoing since April 2025. The DOT's battles with New York over licensing have been a big part of it.
Just this April, Duffy announced DOT would withhold $174 million in federal funds from New York over its failure to comply with federal non-domiciled CDL issuance regulations. New York has issued 32,606 non-domiciled CLPs or CDLs that remain unexpired, according to FMCSA.
FMCSA first put New York on notice in December last year, calling the state the "worst offender" nationwide in non-domiciled CDL issuance problems. FMCSA found 53% of licenses examined there were issued improperly.
It's unclear if Dong, who is now a U.S. citizen, was issued a non-domiciled CDL or not, but his lack of English suggests failure in the credentialing process; all CDL skills testing must take place in English.
FMCSA's legal action attempted to compel the state to explain just how Dong got his CDL, demanding "several documents" from New York in a subpoena; the agency needs them to complete its investigation of Dong and his motor carrier. "FMCSA has not been able to obtain the requested documents through other reasonable means," the subpoena noted.
FMCSA requested the following:
- Any and all documents pertaining to Jing Sheng Dong, including all underlying documents used when issuing Jing Sheng Dong’s initial CDL.
- Any and all documents pertaining to the required Entry-Level Driver Training of Jing Sheng Dong.
- Any and all documents pertaining to Jing Sheng Dong in the investigation of 7 CDL Driving School.
FMCSA threatened civil or criminal contempt findings if the state fails to comply.
"This is exactly why we are holding states accountable, enforcing the rules of the road, and cracking down on drivers who can’t speak English," Duffy said of the crash. "If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus."
New York DMV responded to Duffy's claims and the subpoena by denying it was holding back any information and that the state held full responsibility for Dong's CDL.
From a NYDMV spokesperson:
"We offer our deepest condolences to all affected by this horrible crash. New York DMV is fully cooperating with federal requests for information to assist in these investigations. Secretary Duffy's heartless politicizing of a tragedy to attack New York is not surprising, but it is wrong. Here are the facts: this driver passed their CDL road test in Virginia in 2024, and under Secretary Duffy's own rules, New York was required to accept those results. New York remains committed and focused on keeping everyone safe on our roads."
