CTA Buses Are Involved In Crashes Every 36 Hours: Report
By Kate Shepherd in News on Sep 22, 2015 5:25PM
A CTA bus is involved in a crash about once every 36 hours in Chicago, according to an investigation by ABC.
After the fatal bus crash on Michigan Avenue near Lake Street last June, ABC uncovered data on hundreds of CTA bus crashes across the city. Nearly 500 people were injured in CTA bus crashes in 2014, according to city data.
City records show that in January 2014, a bus "started a chain-reaction" and smashed into two parked SUVs and a minivan in Roscoe Village. Seven people were injured when a southbound bus crossed into the northbound lanes and hit two parked cars and a fence in Bronzeville in Sept. 2014. And on the West Side in July 2014, 14 people were injured when a bus crashed into three parked vehicles at Jackson and Central.
Most of the crashes that CTA buses are involved in are caused by other drivers, CTA rep Brian Steele told ABC:
"We have a lot of incidents in which vehicles rear-end buses, turn in front of buses, sideswipe them, so only a small percentage is really the result of actions by CTA bus drivers."
The investigation reflects the rise of traffic accidents in Illinois. In 2013, crashes involving motor vehicles increased by 4 percent with an average of 782 accidents per day, according to the Tribune.
If you want to read through the city's accident paperwork, ABC posted it here.