Dozens suffer personal injuries in New Jersey bus crash

Last week we discussed the tragic death of a 25-year-old New Jersey woman in a bus crash that killed three others. Bus accidents are unfortunately becoming increasingly common in New Jersey and the rest of the Atlantic coast. Although the crash that killed the Jersey City woman appears to have been caused by driver fatigue, there are many contributing factors to bus accidents.

Another bus accident occurred at the beginning of the week and appears to be the fault of a reckless or inattentive driver. Witnesses report that a dark-colored SUV barreled through an intersection in Orange, New Jersey near the border of West Orange, causing the crash.

“The car ran the stop sign and the bus got him as it was coming down,” a witness said. “Two people are stuck in there.”

The SUV flipped over upon being struck by the bus at 3 p.m. last Tuesday at the intersection of Glebe Street and Scotland Road. Two women in the SUV were trapped as the bus pinned the upside-down vehicle against a telephone pole. Emergency crews from Orange, East Orange and West Orange rushed to the scene to rescue the women. Emergency crews worked for over an hour to extricate the women from the vehicle as onlookers flooded the street. The first woman was freed from the SUV at 4:30 p.m.

There were approximately a dozen passengers on the bus at the time of the accident. Approximately half of the bus passengers suffered minor personal injuries and were transported to University Hospital for treatment.

Source: The Star-Ledger, “Coach USA bus crashes in Orange, leaves 8 injured,” Julia Terruso, 6/7/11; The West Orange Patch, “Bus Crash on Orange/West Orange Border Leaves Several People Injured,” Karen Yi, 6/7/11