NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Authorities say speed was a factor when an MTA articulated bus careened off an overpass in the Bronx on Thursday night, injuring eight people and leaving the bus dangling over a roadway.
The driver, who has not been identified, was injured in the wreck and refused a drug and alcohol test at the hospital, MTA officials said during a news conference Friday afternoon.
The MTA announced Saturday that the driver had been "withheld from service without pay."
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The crash occurred at 11:05 p.m. on an overpass near University Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway, right off the Washington Bridge.
Authorities say the Bx35 bus was headed for Broadway and 178th Street when it ran off the roadway after making a left turn from University Avenue onto the ramp leading to the Cross Bronx Expressway.
The bus veered onto the University Avenue overpass and careened through a guard rail, the front half falling 50 feet to the Cross Bronx Expressway ramp below, officials said.
Videos show the back half of the Bx35 bus on the overpass and the front half dangling over the ramp.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Even though the bus driver was seriously hurt, he managed to evacuate everyone off the bus safely, officials said.
Seven passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to hospitals.
The driver sustained a broken jaw, as well as cuts, bruises and body pains.
Crews secured the bus with cables and successfully pulled it back up to the overpass after 6 a.m.
MTA Bus President Craig Cipriano said the bus operator is 55 years old and an 11-year veteran with a clean record.
"The bus operator has 11-plus years of good service on the job and a good safety record during those 11-plus years," Cipriano said.
But on Thursday night, the driver was speeding, according to MTA Chief Safety Officer Patrick Warren.
"The speed limit on the road was 25 miles an hour, but the appropriate speed taking a turn such as this is between 3 and 4 miles an hour," Warren said.
He said the bus was traveling between 17 and 26 mph when it made the turn.
The driver took a breath test at the scene and passed, but later refused a federally-mandated drug and alcohol test at the hospital, which Warren said was "obviously troubling."
"We don't have any information at this time regarding the health or cognitive status of the operator at the moment of the incident," Warren said.
In an earlier statement, Warren said, “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. 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.”
The bus was last inspected on Jan. 13 and had no mechanical issues, Cipriano said.
The Washington Bridge, which runs parallel to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and connects the Bronx and Harlem, was shut down. The westbound Cross Bronx Expressway ramp to the Major Deegan Expressway and University Avenue from 174th Street to the Washington Bridge were also closed during the investigation.
There were also delays on the Cross Bronx Expressway.
