A noon-hour crash at Dunmore Road and 22nd Street snarled traffic for more than an hour on the main route after a white Buick sedan broadsided a city special tranist bus that was turning left across southbound lanes. No passengers were on the bus at the time. The driver of the bus suffered minor injuries while the driver of the car was taken by ambulance to hospital with undetermined injuries. -- NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
Police were still piecing together what led to a noon-hour crash involving a special transit bus and a car that officers had been chasing at slow speeds.
The crash, which sent the car’s driver to hospital, occurred at the busy intersection of Dunmore Road and 22nd Street and detoured south-bound traffic on the route for about 90 minutes. Officers at the scene told the News they suspected the woman may have been in medical distress prior to the crash.
There were no passengers on the bus when it was struck broadside while making a left-hand turn off Dunmore Road. Video sent to the News from bystanders shows other motorists and police working to free the women as smoke billowed out of a demolished engine compartment.
Fire crews extricated the 58-year-old female driver, who went to hospital via ambulance.
A late-day police release stated that officers first attempted to pull over the white Buick Century at 11:40 a.m. near Prince Street.
“The vehicle was driving erratically, at very low speeds, and the driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, appeared not to notice the presence of police,” it said. “The vehicle continued southbound on Maple Avenue and increased speed.”
Officers say the vehicle entered northbound lanes while turning south onto Dunmore Road at Kingsway Avenue, then crossed back to proper lanes going up the hill before colliding with the special transit bus.
The impact caused the bus to roll into a nearby SUV that contained two adults and two children, though only minor damage and no injuries were reported.
The driver of the transit bus received minor injuries, and three police officers were treated for smoke inhalation and released.
The MHPS Traffic Unit continues to investigate this incident.
