CHARELSTON, W.Va. — A KRT bus driver and the operator of a passenger vehicle are recovering from injuries after a collision during the morning rush hour Tuesday in Charleston.
Both drivers were taken to the hospital after the crash at the I-64/77 split.
“You try to take away the silver lining. We could have had a much more serious injury or we could have had a brand new bus destroyed. But hey, you can replace buses every single day, but people and members of your team are what matter,” KRT Executive Director Sean Hill said.
Police are investigating the crash which happened in the busy curve which bends I-64 east bound toward Beckley. The turn is known for close calls when drivers make a last second decision. Hill said after taking a look at the bus dash cam that appears to be what happened.
“From a preliminary look at it, the vehicle did quickly enter into the lane our bus was operating in and our driver did not have time to respond. The reaction is obviously what we saw and the aftermath was pretty violent,” he said.
The dashcam footage has been submitted to Charleston Police as part of their investigation.
Both the bus and the car struck the barrier wall where the two highways split. The wall is designed to absorb the impact. According to Hill, that probably saved lives in the high speed crash.
The bus had no passengers on board at the time and was headed for its run at Elkview. The damage was severe and according to Hill, the machine is probably a total loss.
“I think it’s going to be an extreme amount of damage.. In a way, we’re glad it’s one of our older buses that had almost 400,000 miles on it,” he said.