Skip to main content

On-board cameras capture bus crash

Authorities have released video showing crashes that happened after police say a 65-year-old bus driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit several vehicles in suburban Detroit. Multiple cameras on board the bus captured what happened: the bus appears to be proceeding normally, as the driver drifts off for just a moment and doesn’t notice the line of cars in front of him until it’s too late. He brakes and attempts to swerve, but hits the back of the car in front. The out-of-control bus continues on its way, h
March 9, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Authorities have released video showing crashes that happened after police say a 65-year-old bus driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit several vehicles in suburban Detroit.

Multiple cameras on board the bus captured what happened: the bus appears to be proceeding normally, as the driver drifts off for just a moment and doesn’t notice the line of cars in front of him until it’s too late.  He brakes and attempts to swerve, but hits the back of the car in front.

The out-of-control bus continues on its way, hitting several more cars and demolishing the guard rail before coming to a halt.

The crashes involving a Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation bus took place in October in Oakland County's West Bloomfield Township.

Police say the driver crossed the centre line and hit one vehicle before crashing into several others. Two other motorists were injured. The sole passenger on the bus was not seriously injured.

Related Content

  • ITS homes in on cycling safety
    April 9, 2014
    A new generation of ITS equipment is helping road authorities get to grips with cycle safety – and not a moment too soon as Colin Sowman discovers. Cyclists - remember them? Apparently not. At least not according to the OECD 2013 report Cycling, Health and Safety which contains the statement: ‘Cyclists are often forgotten in the design of the road traffic system’. Looking through the statistics that exist (each country appears to compile them differently) it is not difficult to see how such a conclusion cou
  • Rapid growth of bus rapid transit schemes on US Pacific coast
    January 27, 2012
    This section pulls together all the multi-modal topics in each issue. Subject matter will include smartcards; ticketing and payment systems; passenger information systems; fleet management for buses, trains and light rail; park and ride systems; on-line access to real-time information via Internet portals
  • Adaptive cruise control would suppress traffic instability
    March 20, 2014
    Professor Berthold Horn of Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes a modified adaptive cruise control could mitigate phantom traffic jamsthat occur for no apparent reason. The phenomenon of the phantom traffic jam is all too common: they appear for no apparent reason and, having caused frustrating delays for all travelers, evaporate for an equally mystical reason. Phantom traffic jams usually occur on busy highways and often take the form of repeatedly stopping and then accelerating up to near the
  • AVs and bombs: a sinister possibility
    November 6, 2019
    Vehicle-ramming attacks by terrorists on pedestrians – often involving multiple fatalities - are sobering reminders of how cars and vans can be used for ill. But a recent court case in the UK highlights a sinister use of newer technology