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Cops: Driver seriously hurt in crash with Suffolk Transit bus

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A Ronkonkoma man was seriously hurt when he ran a red light and crashed into a Suffolk County Transit bus Tuesday morning in North Patchogue, leaving two passengers on the bus injured, police said.

Preston Campagne, 48, was driving a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt north on Waverly Avenue near Buckley Road at about 9 a.m. when the accident occurred, Suffolk police said.

Witnesses told police that Campagne ran a red light at the intersection and hit the bus as it was turning left from Buckley onto Waverly.

The bus driver, Shane Meighan, 57, of North Babylon, was not injured.

Two of his three passengers were taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center with minor injuries, police said.

Campagne was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries, police said.

He was issued a summons for driving with a suspended license and failing to stop at a traffic light, police said.

The crash remains under investigation. Detectives ask anyone with information to call the Fifth Squad at 631-854-8552.

Link: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/cops-driver-seriously-hurt-in-crash-with-suffolk-transit-bus-1.7642537

http://millerplace-rockypoint.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/police-man-seriously-hurt-after-running-red-light-crashing-into-county-bus

http://www.longisland.com/news/04-08-14/man-seriously-injured-in-motor-vehicle-crash.html

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traingoat

traingoat

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Investigation? Come on now, ran a red with a suspended licenses, what more investigating do you need?

 

It isn't his license was bust and a red light.  The accident reconstruct will give speed and other factors involved and determine a number of other things including whether the signal was operating correctly.  Got to remember a government agency was involved and civil suits coming. and all the t's crossed and i dotted.

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bobtehpanda

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It isn't his license was bust and a red light.  The accident reconstruct will give speed and other factors involved and determine a number of other things including whether the signal was operating correctly.  Got to remember a government agency was involved and civil suits coming. and all the t's crossed and i dotted.

 

I mean, if the bus was in the intersection making a left, that would probably mean that it wasn't a case of the light suddenly changing. In an intersection that small, you don't proceed into the box and then pause for a left turn, especially in something like a bus, and drivers would look at oncoming traffic prior to turning left.

 

I would think that the passengers wouldn't be able to hold SCT liable since the other driver caused everything, but public transit has been sued successfully over less sensible crap.

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peacemak3r

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It isn't his license was bust and a red light.  The accident reconstruct will give speed and other factors involved and determine a number of other things including whether the signal was operating correctly.  Got to remember a government agency was involved and civil suits coming. and all the t's crossed and i dotted.

 

Your first sentence, I assume, is incomplete.

 

You note that there are a number of things to investigate, naturally I agree. But in the situation upon us, I disagree. Like bobtehpanda noted, the bus was already in the intersection making a left turn. So, even if the signals were not working properly, there is almost no possible way that the driver could of missed seeing a bus making a turn.

 

The speed factor. Honestly, most people can safely determine the speed of a car after an aftermath of an accident. What I mean is, judging by the result of the wreck, you can almost safely determine easily on how fast a car may be moving before an impact. If not, then I guess only season/experienced drivers can really determine that.

 

 

And folks wonder why they want more red-light cameras... :o

 

And most experienced drivers know that most red-light cameras are scams and time the signals incorrectly. Yes it may help during an accident, but in most cases the city plays the crap out of you even if you are in the right.

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bobtehpanda

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And most experienced drivers know that most red-light cameras are scams and time the signals incorrectly. Yes it may help during an accident, but in most cases the city plays the crap out of you even if you are in the right.

 

I mean, the main impact is their benefit on safety; once people figure out that there's a red light camera in the area, they generally slow down not only at that intersection, but in the surrounding area, which would presumably be a good thing. Chicago's red light cameras were first recording a much higher number of violators initially, but a few months in and speeding/red-light running has reduced by so much that their revenue projections for the first year are way over.

 

The thing that gets me are the people who violate the red light cameras posted by the LIE ramp meters. Waiting a bit to get on the highway is no big deal, there's already a traffic light in front of them, and New York City red light cameras are extremely obvious (there's a giant flash and a ugly orange box on the streetlight)

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traingoat

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Your first sentence, I assume, is incomplete.

 

You note that there are a number of things to investigate, naturally I agree. But in the situation upon us, I disagree. Like bobtehpanda noted, the bus was already in the intersection making a left turn. So, even if the signals were not working properly, there is almost no possible way that the driver could of missed seeing a bus making a turn.

 

The speed factor. Honestly, most people can safely determine the speed of a car after an aftermath of an accident. What I mean is, judging by the result of the wreck, you can almost safely determine easily on how fast a car may be moving before an impact. If not, then I guess only season/experienced drivers can really determine that.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll try and explain this  so it makes sense.  We know the results but what caused it.  Did either party do any braking before impact.  Were the brakes working properly. Was the light working properly.   How many times have you come across a flashing traffic light which normally means the main mechanism has failed and reverted to flash but at times that hangs up and you get green for both sides or other aberration   Were any avoidance moves made as they show in the skid marks.  and were there any signs of hard braking..  Was this car one of those which can't stop for a multitude of reasons  as if I remember right Toyotas or Hondas had.  Intersection was quite wide, weather was clear  and an individual went thru the light  Why?    Speed is determined other ways and not by the amount of damage.  I've seen new cars totaled in an accident which the driver went into a circle and struck the curb doing 7mph as the radar confirmed and the force buckled the roof and threw everything out of line.   Look at the photo and if that debris is from that car he wasn't going that fast when he was struck even though the car is totaled. unless that car was moved which it probably wasn't but the bus was. 

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Burrstone

Burrstone

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With two buses out they should have 51 buses, and they need 40 for weekday service. 

 

EBT seems to be having a bunch of mechanical and maintenance as of late...

 

 

I mean, if the bus was in the intersection making a left, that would probably mean that it wasn't a case of the light suddenly changing. In an intersection that small, you don't proceed into the box and then pause for a left turn, especially in something like a bus, and drivers would look at oncoming traffic prior to turning left.

 

You have to keep in mind (that even in a bus) the driver will go past the stop line waiting to take a left, this means he/she is legally in the intersection and legally can turn left after the light turns red.  What you have to keep in mind is that cars continually run the red light so you have to wait for them as to not cause an accident, by this time you will be turning left when cross traffic already has the green.

 

 

 In an intersection that small, you don't proceed into the box and then pause for a left turn, especially in something like a bus

 

Not every left turn has a left turn arrow so you must proceed into past the stop line ("the box") and wait until it is safe to turn or the light turns red and you have legal right of way in the intersection.  If there was no arrow and you didn't proceed into the box you'd be sitting there all day, light cycle after light cycle. You'd be impeding traffic....

 

 

I would think that the passengers wouldn't be able to hold SCT liable since the other driver caused everything, but public transit has been sued successfully over less sensible crap.

 

I don't know if the passengers would be able to hold SCT liable or anyone liable,that is for the courts to decide.  Keep in mind Suffolk County owns the bus but a private company operates it and the private company's driver was driving it.

 

I have read a lot case law involving bus crashes in the area and from what I see the driver of both the bus and car will be personally sued, Suffolk County, SCT, EBT Inc., and their parent company The Trans Group will all probably be named as co-defendants.  I wouldn't be surprised to see some of EBT's sister companies named as co-defendants, layers will name anyone and everyone in a hundred mile radios looking for the deep pockets. I remember one lawsuit (Brett and/or Mac probably remember it as well).  Back when Inter County was still around one of their sister companies operating coach buses was sued because a passenger was struck by a car crossing sunrise highway.  I forget if the passenger was going to get on the bus or had previously been a passenger...  The coach bus was parked in a businesses parking lot and the "passenger" was struck by a third parties vehicle.  Inter County and their sister company was named as co-defendants, from what I read Inter-County was dropped from the suit for obvious reasons. I have noi dea what happened to the suit against Inter County...

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mac5689

mac5689

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 Back when Inter County was still around one of their sister companies operating coach buses was sued because a passenger was struck by a car crossing sunrise highway.  I forget if the passenger was going to get on the bus or had previously been a passenger...  The coach bus was parked in a businesses parking lot and the "passenger" was struck by a third parties vehicle.  Inter County and their sister company was named as co-defendants, from what I read Inter-County was dropped from the suit for obvious reasons. I have noi dea what happened to the suit against Inter County...

 

 

I recall the lawsuit you are talking about, though I don't know what the outcome. I just remember that both companies wanted the suit against them dropped since neither of the had been the operator of the bus, or at least I remember one of the companies had said that so they could be dropped from the suit. 

 

If there is a lawsuit, from what I recall reading about an accident a driver for CBS had back in 2005, the County will be named since they own the bus, EBT will be named since they are the operator, and the of course the driver will be named. Trans-Group will probably be named as well since theyy are the corprate owners of EBT. 

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mac5689

mac5689

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I don't know whether you've gotten the number of the bus involved in this accident already, but if you haven't, maybe somebody could match the license plate to a number? R*11761

 

tl3842014155041.jpg

 

According to CPDB the licence plate belongs to 1056.

 

1056 was orignally assigned to CBS Lines before being transffered to Inter-County for some reason after it arrived before being sent to EBT when they receved Inter County's routes.. 

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mac5689

mac5689

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It is #1056, you can see it clearly on LIHotshots smugmug page...  http://lihotshots.smugmug.com/Fire/04-08-2014-0910-hrs-N-Patch/38350376_DCGScb#!i=3167666917&k=fKmtgDp Lots of pics... 

 

This could prove that EBT doesn't seem to assign the same bus everyday to routes or runs, since a friend told me that he saw 1056 on the S57 the day before the accident. 

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Burrstone

Burrstone

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This could prove that EBT doesn't seem to assign the same bus everyday to routes or runs, since a friend told me that he saw 1056 on the S57 the day before the accident.

 

It depends I've had 3 different drivers 3 days in a row at the same time on some weeks it's the same driver depending on the week, sometimes the bus is different... It's def not the same bus unless it's a BRT those are usually at the same scheduled time every time... I take the S1 during AM/PM rush and it seems like there are the same scheduled drivers doing the S1 all day and then it seems they put whoever with whatever equipment to fill in during the peak rush hour times. granted we are talking the S1 so it's probably different for other runs EBT has...

 

I don't ride the bus every day but try to when I can... They have a lot of regular drivers on the S1 but I also see a lot of drivers who seem new, they don't feel familiar with the buses, stepping on the breaks HARD, etc.. I'm wondering if EBT has high turnover if if they're letting school bus drivers from the two former Atlantic Express yards in Farmingdale they bought out either switch over to transit or letting them pick up hours on the S1... keep in mind I overheard a driver years ago complaining she didn't have enough time because she did an S1 trip in the morning had to drop off a transit bus pick up a school do a run then do the same thing in the afternoon...

 

Given those pictures that Burrstone posted, it looks like #1056 can definitely be fixed up.

it's not as bad as I thought either, looks like minor body damage, but who knows with the impact it sustained...

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mac5689

mac5689

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It depends I've had 3 different drivers 3 days in a row at the same time on some weeks it's the same driver depending on the week, sometimes the bus is different... It's def not the same bus unless it's a BRT those are usually at the same scheduled time every time... I take the S1 during AM/PM rush and it seems like there are the same scheduled drivers doing the S1 all day and then it seems they put whoever with whatever equipment to fill in during the peak rush hour times. granted we are talking the S1 so it's probably different for other runs EBT has...

 

I don't ride the bus every day but try to when I can... They have a lot of regular drivers on the S1 but I also see a lot of drivers who seem new, they don't feel familiar with the buses, stepping on the breaks HARD, etc.. I'm wondering if EBT has high turnover if if they're letting school bus drivers from the two former Atlantic Express yards in Farmingdale they bought out either switch over to transit or letting them pick up hours on the S1... keep in mind I overheard a driver years ago complaining she didn't have enough time because she did an S1 trip in the morning had to drop off a transit bus pick up a school do a run then do the same thing in the afternoon...

 

I know EBT does some interling. If I rememeber correctly there is an S54 run that changes into an S23 and a S29 that changes into a S27. 

 

I wouldn't be suprised if they schudule school bus drivers to do transit runs that some would be former Atlantic Express drivers, though I wouldn't be surprised if maybe they had a high turnover rate. 

 

I know Suffolk Transportation Service/Suffolk Bus Corp did at one time  the oppsite of what yoy think EBT maybe doing, they had let Transit drivers pick up hours doing mini bus runs. I know back in 2003 I had two mini bus drivers in the afternoon who said they had driven the 6A during the morning. 

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