Women Hurt, Terrified By CTA Bus Crash
CHICAGO (CBS) - CTA investigators are still trying to determine why a bus ran into some trees and sent 37 people to hospitals, but two passengers CBS 2 interviewed believe they know why it happened.
Seronna Stanton and Britni Jones struggled to walk Sunday night. They ride the No. 6 Jackson Park Express bus day after day.
Until now.
"It makes me not want to ride the CTA anymore," Jones told CBS 2's Jim Williams.
Jones and Stanton were both passengers on a No.6 bus, when it veered off South Lake Shore Drive near McCormick Place around 6 p.m. Saturday, and ran into some trees. A total of 37 people were sent to hospitals, some in serious-to-critical condition.
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Jones said she knew there was a problem on the bus when, "I heard a passenger scream, like, 'What are you doing?'"
That passenger, the women said, was trying to help the bus driver, who could not move the steering wheel.
"I seriously think it was a mechanical problem, because you should have seen the way the bus driver and the other person tried to turn the steering wheel and it would not turn," Jones said.
The situation soon turned chaotic.
"It was scary. Everything was hitting the windows. People started screaming," Stanton said. "I was trying to hold Emoni in my hand, and everything just happened so fast."
Emoni is Jones' 11-month-old daughter.
"That was my main priority," Stanton said. "I was just making sure she was OK, and came out OK. We got hurt, but she's ok."
The accident broke a blood vessel in Stanton's foot. Jones said she has severe back pain.
"It was eerie. It was emotional. It was a mess," Jones said.
The women said Sunday night they don't know when they'll want to ride a CTA bus again.
"I would never have to think that I would have to fear for my life or my child's life when I get on public transportation," she said. "We're supposed to be safe."
Stanton and Jones praised the bus driver, who they said was calm and professional.
The Chicago Transit Authority says mechanics are now inspecting the bus , and taking a look at its black box to determine how fast it was going, as well as how systems on the bus were working.
