LANCASTER – Five people were injured, included two deputies, when an Antelope Valley Transit Authority bus collided with a sheriff’s patrol unit and then crashed into the side of an ice cream shop Wednesday night.
The collision occurred around 8 p.m., Wednesday in the intersection of Avenue I and Division Street in Lancaster, on AVTA Route 11, according to AVTA officials.
According to a news release issued by AVTA Wednesday morning, details are still sketchy as the investigation remains ongoing, but preliminary reports show the bus and sheriff’s patrol unit collided when the coach operator turned south onto Division Street. The bus then hit the side of an unoccupied business located at 106 East Avenue I, the release states.
A worker at Antelope Valley Ice Cream confirmed that the store was struck by a bus Wednesday night. One of the store’s walls were damaged and will have to be repaired, but the ice cream shop is still open for business, the worker said.
Two L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies were transported to the hospital, treated for minor injuries and released. There were two passengers aboard the AVTA bus at the time of the accident. The driver and both passengers were able to walk off the bus after the accident and all three were transported to Antelope Valley Hospital, according to the AVTA news release.
“We are very concerned for the welfare of all those involved in this collision,” said AVTA Executive Director Julie Austin. “Safety is a top priority and we will thoroughly investigate this incident.”
The east and westbound lanes on Avenue I were shut down for several hours as officials investigated the cause of the accident. Onboard video has been retrieved from the AVTA bus and an investigative report should be completed by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators in eight to ten days, according to the AVTA news release.
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Me says
Norm and the gang are just as guilty as the three they swept off. They were just unhappy with the idea of AVTA being ran by itself and without a “contractor” running things. In fact they hired one of the contractors general managers just to make the transistion from AVTA ran maintenance back over to Veoila. Boy that sure helped(yeah right). Now I hear they won a “pat on the back” award for a clean cover up and finally receiving new buses that were already in the works for at least five years! Whatever, I think I’ll stick to walking rather than riding in one of stinky shaky unsafe wrecks!
LoyalSprintCustomer says
Thank you for the update on the scandal.
I have wondered more than once what happened to the 3 people who left. The lady resigned and moved away. She said people kept making remarks about the tummy tuck and breast lift that she had after losing about 80 lbs. I waited to hear the charges that Rex and his group kept saying they were guilty of. Hmmm.
None were ever charged and sounds like maybe they were cleared. After all the habub about the accounting people being the same as the City of Bell. I guess even after the independent audits they found nothing. So are those 3 peoples lives ruined?
JD says
That is so true! An AVTA bus once bore out directly in front of me after leaving a bus stop on 30th across from AVC. The driver didn’t use his signal and forced me into the left lane, forcing the driver in the left lane into oncoming traffic. Luckily there were no accidents from this stupidity. I now avoid driving next to AVTA buses at all costs. The bus drivers are unpredictable and sloppy!!!
They should have a sign on the back of each bus that says “How’s my driving?” and give a number for residents to call in. I’m sure they will get plenty of feedback from angry drivers.
Alex says
Sadly, with all the bad driving and motor skills I’ve seen at the AVTA, I am not surprised.
They cut people off, don’t use turn signals, take up multiple lanes of traffic, park over multiple parking spots (while not in service), reverse without looking, etc.
However, I do hope everyone involved is okay and it is sorted out who was to blame in this accident and the appropriate actions taken.
cj says
From what your saying your accusing the driver of being at fault, just because you have probably seen a few or maybe one driver do something not appropriate doesn’t mean all drivers are unsafe and as far as a driver going in reverse well you are definitely telling a lie because drivers are not allowed to reverse without supervision. Also you drivers on the road make it so difficult for bus drivers to even change lanes which is ridiculous. Also drivers are being forced to work 6 days a week and when they request a day off they get denied. They are working split swifts which means they are at work for least 12 hrs a day and to top that drivers are not getting properly trained the way they should. During training if a driver is not prepared and doesn’t know a route they get told to do the best they can. They are given buses that are not safe but the company does not care. And the driver that got into the crash with cop car has let the company know plenty of times that its hard for him to see at night while driving giving that he is over 60 years old but yet again he was ignored. Not sure if that was the cause of crash but we just have to see.
Alex says
Defensive much? Sounds like you are making excuses for bad judgement.
Crane operators and heavy equipment operators have similar difficulties at job sites, but if they get into an incident or cause injury, they are drug tested immediately and if found at fault fired. In fact, many are fired if they are in too many incidents. I think the same should be applied to AVTA.
What about RNs in the medical field? Do they get a free pass because of similar conditions? OF COURSE NOT.
And yes, I have a video record of the AVTA small transit bus reversing without supervision, or maybe he just “coasted” backwards since there was a slight grade. Either way the vehicle was moving in reverse. I will review the video later to determine if any reverse lighting is visible, since it happened in daylight it will be harder to determine.
If this is the case, as an employee you need to create a paper record of such events. Saying you said it is worthless, having certified mail, e-mails,etc PROVING YOU SAID IT, they much more helpful if you need to bring it in front of the labor board or in court.
Me says
I was a first responder to the investigation and I can now tell you it was poor judgement from both parties! However I will say this I have mo clue why the bus driver continued into the ice cream shop, had he been in control, he should have stopped after the impact instead of just continuing on.