A Greyhound bus traveling from Indianapolis to St. Louis crashed into three tractor-trailers parked along a highway exit to a rest area in southern Illinois early Wednesday, killing three people and injuring at least 14 others, some seriously, according to Illinois State Police. The Greyhound bus crash happened just before 2 a.m. on I-70 West along a ramp leading to the Silver Lake rest area west of Highway 160 in Madison County. The bus hit three tractor-trailers that were parked on the shoulder of a ramp leading to the rest area, police said. The force of impact sheared off the right side of the bus. The National Transportation Safety Board will send a team to investigate the crash.
The bus was traveling westbound along Interstate 70 when it crashed into the three semis, Illinois State Police said, citing an initial investigation. Four people were taken to the hospital by helicopter, and at least ten others were taken by ambulance. Police did not immediately release details about those who were injured and killed. No one in the three trucks was injured in the crash near the city of Highland, about 25 miles east of St. Louis, police said.
Greyhound spokesperson Mike Ogulnick said in an email that the bus was carrying about 30 people, including the driver, and was scheduled to arrive at the St. Louis station at about 2:20 a.m. “Our primary concern is ensuring we care for our passengers and driver at this time,” Ogulnick said. “We are working closely with local authorities, and a relief bus is on the way for passengers.”
Passenger Edward Alexander of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he helped a pregnant woman get off the bus and was searching for his phone when he “realized smoke was coming in the bus. I was like, ‘forget that phone,’ and went on and jumped out the window.”
According to a U.S. Department of Transportation report, the bus that crashed is part of a fleet that does business under Greyhound’s BoltBus division. That fleet includes 1,046 vehicles and 1,132 drivers, and it was involved in 69 crashes in the past two years.
Karen Miller, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents Greyhound drivers, said investigations will follow by the company and the Department of Transportation, and her main concern was “the well-being of the driver and passengers.” It is illegal in Illinois for trucks to park on exit ramps. But trucking industry experts say semis often stop there for the night because overnight parking is hard to find at rest stops and other places, such as truck stops.
A month before the Greyhound bus crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it would require trucks and buses to include automatic emergency braking equipment within five years. AEBs use forward-facing cameras and sensor technologies to detect when a crash is imminent. The system applies the brakes if the driver has not done so or, if needed, applies additional braking force to supplement the driver’s actions. The proposed standard would require the technology to work at speeds ranging from 6 to 50 mph.