# Megabus Crash, I-55 Southbound



## stlouielady (Aug 2, 2012)

Breaking news, still being updated at this time.

A Megabus traveling from Chicago to St Louis, then to Columbia and on to Kansas City, has crashed on I-55 southbound just northeast of St Louis. Sounds like a tire blew out; details are still coming in.....

For a link and updates, take a look here: Megabus Crash


----------



## henryj (Aug 2, 2012)

Just another reminder that stuff happens. Megabus crashes into concrete pillar on the way to Chicago from St Louis.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/illinois/multiple-injuries-after-megabus-crashes-into-bridge-support-near-litchfield/article_ca34bd4e-dcd5-11e1-82ea-001a4bcf6878.html


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Aug 2, 2012)

Looks like a Van Hool TD925. Never really liked those buses. I always prefer MCI.


----------



## Trogdor (Aug 3, 2012)

Why are buses crashing? Is the NTSB investigating this?


----------



## JayPea (Aug 3, 2012)

Trogdor said:


> Why are buses crashing? Is the NTSB investigating this?


:lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## jis (Aug 3, 2012)

Trogdor said:


> Why are buses crashing? Is the NTSB investigating this?


The bigger question is why do trucks keep crashing and causing problems for us car riders?


----------



## rrdude (Aug 3, 2012)

Ewww, video with the windows open in the emergency-escape position reminds me of a bus accident I was in in 1975, near Aspen, Colorado. Greyline motorcoach slammed head-on into a pickup truck that had crossed the center line.....I ended up taking Amtrak from Denver back to A2 MI, and virtually _everyone_ assumed my injuries were from SKIING. Only a couple of pax had seen the news a few days earlier.


----------



## johnny.menhennet (Aug 3, 2012)

Trogdor said:


> Why are buses crashing? Is the NTSB investigating this?



























Trog thank you!


----------



## George Harris (Aug 3, 2012)

johnny.menhennet said:


> Trogdor said:
> 
> 
> > Why are buses crashing? Is the NTSB investigating this?
> ...


Actually they do. Whether this particular one, don't know yet, but it is the "National *Transportation* Safety Board"

They started off life as investigators of airplane accidents. Some of their early railroad accident repport could be funny in places because the guys writing them were not that familiar with things railroad.


----------



## Texan Eagle (Aug 3, 2012)

The sole fatality was a 24 year old student of Indian origin named Aditi. She happens to be my best friend from college's friend. Her parents had come to visit her for holidays and they were all going sightseeing. Her dad has minor injuries and her mom has dislocated her hip. They were both carried away by chopper to a hospital so they did not get to see their daughter's body for long time. The victim's brother is in India and he is not able to get US visa to fly in. A very sad story of a holiday gone horribly bad. 

You guys can continue with your jokes now. I am very disturbed thinking about the whole incident.


----------



## John Bredin (Aug 3, 2012)

Texan Eagle said:


> The sole fatality was a 24 year old student of Indian origin named Aditi. She happens to be my best friend from college's friend. Her parents had come to visit her for holidays and they were all going sightseeing. Her dad has minor injuries and her mom has dislocated her hip. They were both carried away by chopper to a hospital so they did not get to see their daughter's body for long time. The victim's brother is in India and he is not able to get US visa to fly in. A very sad story of a holiday gone horribly bad.
> You guys can continue with your jokes now. I am very disturbed thinking about the whole incident. [/color]


While I can't speak for anyone else, I doubt anyone here meant any offense, not least of which because none of the humor was at the poor lady's expense. The one and only time I rode Megabus* I sat in the front row of the upper level just above the driver, as media accounts say your unfortunate acquaintance was, so I have an inkling of the "there but for the grace of God go I" reaction. There is a Chicago Tribune story today on the woman -- link.

*Cleveland to Chicago, having taken Amtrak from Chicago to Cleveland for (a bit ironically) a passenger-rail advocacy meeting. Taking Megabus got me home the same day of the meeting and allowed me to sleep in my own bed, which taking Amtrak CLE-CHI would not.


----------



## railiner (Aug 4, 2012)

What a horrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers for the victims....

While the reporter in one news story stated a statistic, that "curbside" bus companies suffered seven times more accidents than Greyhound Lines, anytime such an accident occurs it is harmful to the entire industry. People have short memories, and the low fares will keep them coming back....


----------



## OlympianHiawatha (Aug 5, 2012)

I was riding out a SPI-STL bustitution just a few miles away when that happened, and it had been sloshing blinding rain all the time. I'm guessing that had a lot to contribute to the wreck, especially since those double decker jobs are probably a bit top heavy.


----------



## railiner (Aug 6, 2012)

OlympianHiawatha said:


> I was riding out a SPI-STL bustitution just a few miles away when that happened, and it had been sloshing blinding rain all the time. I'm guessing that had a lot to contribute to the wreck, especially since those double decker jobs are probably a bit top heavy.


Not only top-heavy, but if fully loaded with passengers and baggage, their gross weight will be in excess of highway weight limits for the number of wheels they have...


----------



## jebr (Aug 8, 2012)

railiner said:


> What a horrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers for the victims....
> 
> While the reporter in one news story stated a statistic, that "curbside" bus companies suffered seven times more accidents than Greyhound Lines, anytime such an accident occurs it is harmful to the entire industry. People have short memories, and the low fares will keep them coming back....


That statistic seems almost cherry-picked from a Greyhound advert/press release. I've heard it before, but there's more to that than meets the eye.

First, a lot of curbside bus companies have semi-sketchy operations on the back end...mainly the Chinatown buses. However, Megabus is operated by Stagecoach USA (a reputable coach bus company that has other services) and BoltBus is operated by Greyhound itself (along with Peter Pan Bus.) Either Greyhound thinks people want it more dangerous now, or that there's more to the statistic than simply the fact that the bus picks up at a curb instead of a station. (It could also be that some of Greyhound's routes, especially with their partners like Jefferson Lines, operate a lot of routes that are longer but through small towns, where traffic load is lighter and thus an accident would be less serious. I've seen more broken-down Greyhound buses than Megabus buses recently.)



railiner said:


> OlympianHiawatha said:
> 
> 
> > I was riding out a SPI-STL bustitution just a few miles away when that happened, and it had been sloshing blinding rain all the time. I'm guessing that had a lot to contribute to the wreck, especially since those double decker jobs are probably a bit top heavy.
> ...


Really? I thought that buses had to stop at open weigh stations, which would discourage this.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Personal thoughts: I hate to hear about these crashes and my condolences are with those who suffered because of this. However, it's just as discouraging to see people take one instance and assume it applies for every trip (or a lot of trips). I'm more a "public transit" fan than a hardcore "rail" fan, so anything that takes people out of one-person cars is a win in my book, and Megabus runs a decent operation, from my experiences. Not perfect, but not horrible.


----------

