Upstate New York a breeding ground for bus crashes

A third bus crash in as many weeks in upstate New York occurred last Wednesday evening. A responding officer commented that this crash could have been a lot worse. Compared to the two other bus accidents, the 30 passengers on this bus were lucky. None of them was killed.

On July 22, one person was killed and 30 were injured in a bus crash in Seneca County. On July 18 in Steuben County, another bus crash claimed the lives of two people, and dozens more were injured.

The most recent crash occurred on Interstate 81. The weather was bad, with rain slicking the road. The bus driver, carrying twenty-eight tourists from Poland and their tour guide, lost control of the bus and went off the side of the road. The bus careened down an eighty-foot embankment and overturned onto its roof, coming to rest in a gully.

Nineteen passengers were taken to local area hospitals for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash. One woman was trapped under the roof of the bus for more than an hour before she was freed by rescue workers. Thankfully, all of the injured were released from hospitals by the next morning.

So far, troopers have not issued any tickets or determined what caused the crash. The bus driver passed sobriety tests. Although the cause of the crash is still being investigated, road conditions and the speed of the bus at the time of the crash could be important factors, and officers said their preliminary findings may indicate the driver was driving too fast for conditions.

Source: Press Connects, “All 19 hospitalized after tour bus crash released,” George Basler, Aug. 4, 2011