I'm feeling a little bit rattled tonight. I was trying to get to my bank so I could download some money from my ATM, since the usual ATM I go to wasn't working. I was catching a bus which was going past my bank, but before I got there, the bus was trying to turn left onto another street just as a pedestrian was crossing the street along the crosswalk. I don't know if the bus driver didn't see her because she was on his blind side or if he just wasn't paying attention, but I heard a huge thud underneath the bus before all of the passengers screamed at him to stop. Then about two seconds later I heard the wailing screams of the pedestrian who was underneath the bus. A couple of the passengers on the bus began to freak out, and someone called 911 right away. About two to three minutes later the police arrived and the ambulance and fire department truck arrived about a couple of minutes after that. Us passenger tried to get out of the bus from the back so that we could take some weight off of the woman underneath it, but the back door wouldn't open. So we were forced to stay on the bus while the fire department and paramedics tried to extract the woman from underneath. It took about ten minutes, and the woman was screaming in agony the whole time, but they jacked the bus up and pulled her out from underneath and put her in an ambulance and drove off to the hospital. Fortunately, she was conscious when they loaded her into the ambulance.

After the pedestrian was taken away to the hospital, the police pulled us off the bus and started taking depositions about the accident. One of the passengers who was freaking out over the accident had high blood pressure, so one of the paramedics had to attend to her, but she wasn't seriously ill; just scared. The paramedics informed us that while the bus ran over and on top of her, there was no bloody scene there, so the bus apparently pinned her legs down. At any rate, they said that she probably would be okay, but we had to wait for confirmation from the hospital that she wasn't going to die before the police would release us from the scene.

oh wow

That's horrible! How tramatic for everyone. I hope and pray the lady will be alright. Have a drink to steady your nerves.

Hope she's doing ok.

Sorry u had to witness that.

whoa, that's rough.

Holy fuck.

The same thing happened here yesterday but killed her...they haven't released her name yet but I am 99% positive I know who it is now...a girl I know through some friends of mine...a girl named Melanie.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/...illed.html

Whoa!

Wow! That's so scary! That reminds me...I should seriously be careful while jay-walking

when I lived in Minneapolis I slipped on some ice getting off the bus and landed under the bus not a good experience. Luckily the driver saw me and did not roll over me. Then I just had to pick my face up and cross the street to get home....

I was VERY glad to leave Minneapolis! I'm from NY....our shit melts!!

JustErin said:

OMG! That totally sucks. I feel bad for your acquaintance. I think that pedestrian my bus ran over will be okay, but I am still praying for her tonight. I was offered a chance to ride on another bus, but since I was originally going to the bank, I decided to walk home instead. Once I got home and had time to reflect I felt a little bit queasy and unsettled, but I was able to calm down a bit.

728huey said:

I hope she makes it through ok...how scary for everyone involved.

I was once on a tram that ran into a car that was driving too close to the tram tracks. Nobody was hurt, but the driver of the car was so distressed she had an asthma attack and then the situation suddenly became very critical. The driver of the tram was extremely unprofessional - his initial reaction was to get out and start screaming abuse at the woman, who was unable to pull over to the side of the road since the side step thing on the tram was caught up in the space above her back tyre. It was HORRIBLE! There was a guy sitting opposite me from the transport authority on the tram, already calling the ambulance, then a call to MTA to report the driver

I hate these things

Scary stuff!
Stay away from Santa Barbara buses, we had two accidents like this within the same week, a few months back.

!!!

That's horrible. I hope she will be ok.

I bet the bus driver was all shaken up.

OMG, hope the lady is ok. must have been traumatic

That's awful. I hope all parties involved are OK. How are you doing with this, 728huey?

That is terrible!
I'm glad she'll be okay, tho.
I'm sorry U had to experience that.

Monday, I was standing out in front of my nail salon talking to someone and we heard a car screech, a thud, and a scream. Someone had gotten hit by a car right down the street, and thrown onto the sidewalk. My friend called 911 and emergency vehicles came.
Things happen so quickly. Hopefully the man will be okay.

728huey said:

Bummer, I was right. It was her.

http://www.ottawasun.com/...66766.html

Whew.....

I saw that happen in NYC. A lady was laying right under the front, left of one of those large, coach express buses. It was a horrible scene. I don't know to this day if she is alive or dead, but it was sad to see that something like that happened, so I know how you feel. Honestly, though, some bus drivers just don't take the time to slow down when they see pedestrians trying to cross the street. Sorry you had to see that, and prayers to the pedestrian.
[Edited 9/18/09 6:36am]

JustErin said:

Wow, I'm glad the woman survived.

Take care Huey...

ouch.