Bus smashes through guardrail and hangs over elevated roadway
A New York City bus crashed through a barrier wall and hung over an overpass in a terrifying moment during the morning commute.
The front of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) BxM1 bus and at least one of its wheels dangled from an elevated road after the crash in the Bronx just before 9am on Friday.
It happened at West Kappock Street and Independence Avenue close to Henry Hudson Parkway, over a typically busy sidewalk.
The driver, on the job for around a decade, was not able to maneuver around a parked car on Henry Hudson Parkway and traffic was backing up, MTA union officials told PIX11 News.
Another MTA driver with 37 years of experience who was stuck two vehicles behind the troubled bus got out on foot and tried to assist. As the second driver tried to turn the bus, it slid and struck the guardrail, according to union representatives.
‘He tried to help her out, and things turned out a little worse,’ Yonkers Depot TWU Local 100 Chairman Marcos Soler told CBS News.
‘Between the grass and the ditch, the bus just slid, through no fault of his own, and as he was applying the brakes, it ended up making contact with the wall. Twenty tons of bus downhill on a curb. Accidents happen.’
At the time were no riders on board the bus, which was heading to Midtown Manhattan.
The bus driver was rescued by firefighters and was not injured.
Two tow trucks eventually pulled the bus back onto safe ground. MTA Express buses are 45 feet long.
Helicopter footage showed firefighters closing off the street below the overpass due to fallen debris.
The crash happened just minutes before a yellow school bus crashed and flipped on its side in the Dongan Hills neighborhood of another borough of the city, Staten Island, and 13 were injured including 11 children. A Lexus driver allegedly failed to come to a halt a ta stop sign at an intersection and caused the accident. All 13 victims were transported to a nearby hospital and were in stable condition.
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