NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The driver of an MTA articulated bus that careened off an overpass and was left dangling over a roadway near the Washington Bridge in the Bronx on Thursday night refused to take drugs and alcohol tests following the crash.
The accordion-like Bx35 bus was approaching the Cross Bronx Expressway and turning towards an entrance ramp shortly after 11 p.m., but the bus missed the ramp at University Avenue and the front-half smashed through a railing and fell to the pavement 50 feet below.
Eight people were injured, officials said.
Images showed one part of the bus still resting on the bridge, with the other half dangling nearly completely vertical, with its smashed front end resting on the highway ramp below.
The 55-year-old bus driver and seven passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, most of them minor. One passenger was more seriously hurt than the others but will survive. All were taken to hospitals.
“The bus fell approximately 50 feet onto the access road. The patients suffered injuries consistent with a fall from such a great height,” Deputy Fire Chief Paul Hopper said.
The bus had been successfully pulled onto the overpass by 6:05 a.m. Friday.
MTA Bus President Craig Cipriano said, “Preliminary indications are that they bus operator was very helpful, very heroic, was able to help customers get off the bus to safety.”
Officials later said that the 55-year-old driver of the bus refused to take drugs and alcohol tests following the crash.
“This is obviously troubling,” said Metropolitan Transportation Authority Safety and Security Officer Patrick Warren.
Interim New York City Transit President Sarah Feinberg called the driver’s decision to refuse the tests “extremely troubling ... (it’s) extremely rare for someone not to agree to cooperate.”
The driver, who has 11 years of experience did pass a breath test at the scene after the crash, Warren added.
“The MTA’s goal is to have the safest transportation system in the nation, and when an incident like this occurs we take it very seriously. We are conducting a full investigation and will implement lessons learned in order to prevent it from happening again," Warrens added in a statement. "We are certain this was a terrifying incident for those customers on the bus. Our hearts go out to them with hope that they can recover quickly.”
