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| Re: Megabus accident on I-684 (story) (264098) | |||
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Re: Megabus accident on I-684 (story) |
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Posted by Gold_12TH on Fri Jul 20 23:16:30 2012, in response to Megabus accident on I-684, posted by NIMBYkiller on Fri Jul 20 21:32:00 2012. video: http://www.LoHud.com/videonetwork/1745767700001/Megabus-crash-on-I-684 SOUTHEAST - Traffic on Interstate 684 north was backed up for about 15 miles through Friday’s rush hour after a Megabus from New York to Boston bus collided with a car on the highway and nearly toppled over. About 60 passengers on the double-decker Megabus were stranded after the 2 p.m. crash and had to be physically helped through windows of the teetering bus, which wound up leaning precariously against a guard rail. Brewster and Croton Falls firefighters had to stabilize the bus before they could put up ladders to evacuate the upper-deck riders through the windows. No passengers were injured, Brewster Assistant Fire Chief Bill Rieg said. The accident happened about a mile south of Interstate 84, north of the Southeas rest area, and the car sustained rear-end damage. Just one lane was open past the accident scene, and I-684 northbound traffic was backed up for about 7 miles at 4 p.m., to Exit 6, Route 35, Katonah-Cross River. As the rush hour proceeded and the wreck remained on the side of the highway, delays in the northbound lanes doubled to about 15 miles, with the jam going past exit , around 5:45 p.m. At 7 p.m., traffic was easing although the bus remained on the side of the road, north of the Southeast rest area and south of the Interstate 84 interchange. The passengers were taken by bus to the Brewster firehouse and given coffee, tea and soda as they waited for another Megabus to arrive. Rieg also ordered 13 pizzas for the crowd. “We’re so happy nobody got hurt,” he said, adding that the last time the firehouse was used as a shelter was during Hurricane Irene last summer. “Thank God for that guard rail.” Pattie Rydlun of Boston, who became a de facto leader for the passengers and served as their liaison to Megabus staff, said the Brewster firefighters were “priceless people.” “It was a hectic, scary crash, so I think people are still somewhat shaken,” she said, as she wrangled Ibuprofen for several passengers and created a makeshift lost-and-found. “But humans, we all rally, we’re all kind to each other, we’re all very patient.” It was the second mishap of the day for the Megabus, which left New York at about 10:30 a.m. and had been scheduled to arrive in Boston at 2:25 p.m. Shortly after leaving the city, the bus driver noticed transmission problems and pulled to the side of the road. Passengers said it took another hour for a replacement bus to arrive – and then there was the crash. Megabus, a British import, offers discount buses – advertised as being potentially as cheap as $1 fares – from New York to cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., among others. The company, based in Elizabeth, N.J., has a safe driving record, according to records from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal officials have inspected 184 Megabus buses in the past two years and found problems with five vehicles — an average of 2.7 percent, which is far lower the national average 20.7 percent for bus carriers, DOT records show. Still, the company’s good safety record did little to appease those involved in the crash. Alyssa Newman of Woodbury Heights, N.J., was traveling to Boston to see a friend attending graduate school at the University of Massachusetts. She said she’s thinking twice about using Megabus again. “It was scary. Our bus was hanging to the side,” she said. “I’m probably going to take Amtrak from now on. It’s a little more expensive, but I’ll pay the money.” The crash was the second this month in the Lower Hudson Valley involving a bus. Early July 4, a speeding tour bus returning to Brooklyn from a Connecticut casino crashed on Interstate 95 in New Rochelle, injuring the driver and 23 passengers. No charges were filed against the driver, Wei Chen, 48, of Brooklyn, , but state police gave him two tickets on July 8, one for speeding and the other for improper lane usage, answerable in New Rochelle City Court. ---http://www.lohud.com/article/20120720/NEWS04/307210011/Bus-collides-car-684-Southeast-riders-rescued-by-ladder-10-mile-traffic-backup-N-B?odyssey=nav%7Chead |
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