PITTSBURGH — A Megabus carrying passengers from Pittsburgh crashed on Interstate 80 in New Jersey early Tuesday morning.
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Passengers told Channel 11 they started screaming at the driver to pull over after the bus started swerving near State College, Pa. The driver pulled off the highway and told them it was the wind making the bus difficult to handle.
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Several hours later, Troopers with the New Jersey State Police said the bus rear ended a tractor trailer.
“Next thing you know... Bang! We crashed and the whole windshield was broken,” said one passenger.
Video of the crash showed the carnage left after the collision. Police said 47 passengers were on the bus, and five were taken to the hospital for minor injuries. The passengers were stuck on the side of the road for two hours until another Megabus took them to New York.
One passenger believes the driver fell asleep behind the wheel.
It’s a situation that alarmed a number of other bus passengers when Channel 11′s Jillian Hartmann showed them what the bus looked like.
“It makes me pretty nervous to see something like that video,” said Mac Nicholason, a Megabus rider.
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“It’s scary, knowing someone who’s in a position of trust taking care of everyone on the bus could just fall asleep and put others in danger,” said Jason Molok.
According to police, the crash is under investigation.
Megabus officials sent Channel 11 a statement following the crash:
“Megabus.com can confirm that an incident occurred today (February 25) on I-80 in New Jersey on a trip from Pittsburgh, PA to New York, NY. Megabus.com is fully cooperating with the local authorities. The safety of our passengers and employees is our top priority”
On their website, the company said their buses are equipped with seat belts, tire monitoring systems, safe-lane changing technology, back-up cameras, equipment to record speed, braking and acceleration, GPS tracking for all buses and extensive screening for all drivers.
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