Bus Narrowly Misses Building In Downtown Miami Crash
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A crash between a car and a Miami-Dade Transit bus tied up traffic in busy downtown Miami Saturday.
And by all accounts, it was a miracle no one was hurt or worse. The bus ended up on a busy sidewalk literally inches from a bank.
"It was so fast that I just heard the bang," Paulo Tonetta told CBS4 Reporter Donna Rapado. Tonetta was standing at the corner of SE 1st Street and 2nd Avenue when the crash suddenly happened just feet in front of him.
Tonetti immediately shot cell phone video he gave exclusively to CBS4 News. The video showed the aftermath of a white Nissan Altima crashing into the transit bus, smoke still billowing.
"The valet parking, they were running and it hit the tree and broke the tree and it's crazy," described Tonetta. "You gotta be careful when you walk around. It's good that it wasn't a weekday because imagine that bus on a sidewalk."
Another woman was sitting by the valet attendants Tonetta referred to when she told Rapado suddenly the bus was barreling toward them. She said it was terrifying. As soon as she heard and saw the impact she ran for her life.
One man who said his name was "Giovanni" realized as he walked out of a business across the street the crash had pushed his parked silver Mercedes Benz into a silver Maserati in front of it.
"I'm upset. But it's no huge damage," said Giovanni. "So, it looks bad but I don't think it's that bad. Most important thing is nobody is hurt."
The bus ended up jumping the sidewalk, taking out a tree and a fire hydrant and literally inches from slamming into a corner building.
"A bus can't stop on a dime," pointed out Miami Fire Rescue's Captain Ignatius Carroll. "As you can imagine, this collision looks really bad. But it could've been a lot worse because of the amount of people that are out here along this area walking the sidewalk and we could've had something very serious, even fatalities as a result."
People who saw the crash told Rapado they thought the Nissan Altima caused it. But Miami Police were looking into who or what was to blame.
Four hours after the crash, just before sundown, two heavy duty tow trucks lifted the transit bus off the tree and sidewalk, hauling it away.
