Crime & Safety

Day Smarts for SMART Bus Driver

A bus driver for the metro transit authority had a very bad day Wednesday.

Wednesday was wasn’t just a bad day for a SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation) bus driver. It was a double-trouble, put-your-face-in-your-palm, should've-stayed-in-bed kind of bad day.

His day started to crash about 11:45 a.m. when a 75-year-old Royal Oak woman pulled from a parking lot near 14 mile Road and broadsided the bus as it traveled southbound on Woodward Avenue, The Birmingham Eccentric reports.

The Royal Oak woman was treated at the scene for some minor injuries and ticketed for failure to yield the right of way.

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The bus driver continued his route. Everything went along smoothly for a few hours. Then as the bus was northbound on Woodward, the driver attempted a right turn onto Elm Street, he turned too tight and struck a light pole and DTE power pole.

“He sheared the power pole,” Birmingham Police Cmdr. Terry Kiernan told the newspaper. “The wires were the only thing that kept it from toppling to the ground.”

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Investigators were concerned the 55-year-old driver may have suffered a medical condition, so they transported him to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital for evaluation. A passenger also reported minor injuries.

The bus sustained only minor damage in the two accidents.

“This poor guy was really having a bad day,” Kiernan said.


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