NEW JERSEY – New video shows when an NJ Transit bus slammed into a truck in February in The New Jersey Turnpike and left more than two dozen passengers on board injured.
Shattered glass is seen flying all over the place in video of the incident which took place on February 14 around 7:30 a.m. A 139 bus, operating from Lakewood to the New York Port Authority Terminal, collided with a Mack truck and a Freightliner as the three were heading north in heavy rush-hour traffic, the city said. police at the time.
The bus was traveling at around 68mph at the time of the crash, which blew out the windshield. From another camera, the bus can be seen approaching the bus lane on the back of a cement truck. Then the collision near exit 13 at Elizabeth.
“I put my hands on the seat but it still wasn’t enough, my head went forward again and I broke my lip and my teeth hurt, my whole mouth hurts and my legs hit me,” passenger Luisa Robles said.
She said she was still suffering from whiplash and other injuries and was seeing a physiotherapist, but was happy to be alive.
Another front-seat passenger seemed to react before the driver himself, as they both ended up getting ready when the bus crashed into the back of the cement truck. NJ Transit said the driver was retrained and given proper discipline, without specifying what it was.
Photos taken later on board showed that two dozen of the 32 passengers on board were injured in the collision. Firefighters used the tools to open the bus and reach the beaten and bloodied passengers. The bus was an older model and was not equipped with seat belts.
Twenty-five people, including the bus driver, were transported to area hospitals, while four passengers refused to seek treatment. None suffered serious injuries, police said, adding earlier that the remaining passengers were accommodated on another bus to continue their journey.
State Police told Our Sister Network on Monday NBC New York that the three drivers involved received tickets: the driver of the cement truck, the driver of a van truck (above and to the right who veered into the reserved bus lane) and the driver of the bus for following too close at higher speeds.
The bus driver who called 9-1-1 said he was cut off which is why he rammed into the other vehicle as the three were heading north in heavy rush hour traffic .
At least two passengers said NBC New York that they explore legal options for lingering injuries after this violent collision.
An investigation is underway.