Latest Megabus Crash Raises Safety Concerns
(CBS) -- Four other Megabuses have crashed during the last year and half in Indiana and three crashed along the same stretch of highway.
CBS 2 Investigative Reporter Dave Savini looked at the company's safety record with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The local Megabus operation has racked up ten collisions, including today's, in different states during the past two years according to the United States Department of Transportation. Five of those crashes involved injuries.
Last October 53 passengers were injured in a crash on the same stretch of Indiana Interstate 65. Police reports say it was early morning and the driver said he swerved to avoid a crash then lost control.
There have been deaths, too. In 2012, a Megabus crash in Illinois, near Springfield, killed a 25-year-old woman. In 2010, a Megabus driver killed a pedestrian in Chicago.
Federal transportation records, for the last two years, show past troubles with some drivers; examples include driving while the commercial driver's license was suspended; speeding in a construction zone; a driver not physically qualified to be driving the bus. These were serious enough to be considered out-of-service violations.
Records show Megabus drivers have higher out of service rates, 8.7 percent, compared to the national average of 5.5 percent.
The driver involved with today's crash has a clean Illinois record and valid license.
Federal records also show other bus maintenance and safety violations, including faulty brakes and excessive weight violations.
Police say the bus in today's crash failed to stop in time near a construction zone. It will be thoroughly inspected later this week. In the last two years, federal records show 69 inspections and 46 violations.
In response to today's accident, Megabus spokesman Sean Hughes said in a statement, "Safety is our number one priority and Megabus is fully cooperating with the authorities with their investigation into the incident."
