Brooklyn, New York, bus accident causes injuries

The size discrepancy between a bus and a passenger vehicle cannot always protect New York transit passengers from injuries in bus accidents. This was vividly demonstrated during a late afternoon collision between two cars and a crowded B46 Limited bus in Brooklyn that resulted in 25 injuries on Jan. 7.

Three of the injured are in critical condition. Bloody, screaming and moaning passengers were removed from the bus after the crash, according to witnesses.

A black BMW that was speeding southbound on Utica Avenue slammed into a Nissan Maxima as it was backing out of a grocery store parking lot in East Flatbush around 4:00 p.m. The crash impact propelled the BMW head-on into the bus as it was traveling northbound on Utica.

No information is available on the number of passengers who were on the bus at the time of the accident. A seriously crushed BMW was wedged under the driver’s side of the bus after the crash. The bus’s windshield was cracked.

Injured passengers were taken to local hospitals. Three occupants of the BMW and Nissan were seriously injured.

Police are investigating the accident. Sources say the bus was not speeding. It is expected that the BMW driver will be charged, according to the police. The BMW was reportedly driving over the speed limit on Utica Avenue.

The speed limit was recently lowered from 30 mph to 25 mph on that 4-mile avenue under Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan to fight pedestrian deaths. There have been 12 traffic fatalities over the last four years on that street.

Victims of transit accidents should promptly seek legal assistance to protect their rights to compensation and to help determine liability in these accidents. While another driver’s negligence or reckless driver may be responsible for these accidents, the owners of the bus or its driver may have also engaged in acts that contributed to injuries or wrongful death.