Megabus Burst Into Flames In Lake Forest En Route From Chicago To Minneapolis

By Mae Rice in News on Feb 21, 2016 11:08PM

One of Megabus' coach buses—this one fortunately not on fire (photo via Facebook)

Lake Forest, IL isn’t just the backdrop for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (and this spring’s Ferris Fest). On Sunday afternoon, a Megabus on its way to Minneapolis from Chicago self-immolated in Lake Forest—luckily, only after all the roughly 40 passengers and the driver had gotten off the bus.

The bus caught fire on the southbound side of Route 41, between Route 176 and the Lake Forest Hospital, according to reports from NBC and the Sun-Times.

No injuries were reported, and passengers were eventually boarded onto another bus to Minneapolis, the Lake Forest Fire Department told reporters.

However, most luggage was burnt to a crisp, according to New York Times travel columnist Lucas Peterson, who happened to be aboard the bus in question.

Based on Peterson’s report, the bus was a dud from the start. He first tweeted:

Then things started to escalate:

Peterson’s recap:

It’s especially troubling that the driver didn’t lead the effort to get passengers off the bus—and that Megabus’s liability policy offers less than than $300 for lost or damaged goods per passenger,though many passengers lost much more.

As Peterson called out in a tweet, Megabus' "Terms & Conditions" specify:

Our maximum liability to you for any loss or damage to your luggage is US$250 per passenger for any such loss or damage to luggage, and megabus.com will only be responsible to reimburse passengers up to the maximum liability limit in the event of negligence on the part of megabus.com.

We’ve reached out to Megabus for comment, and will update this post if we hear back.

In closing, here’s the burned-out carcass of the bus.