A passenger on a King County Metro bus took control of the vehicle after the driver suffered a medical emergency Wednesday morning, steering it off the road and applying the brakes before it struck approximately seven cars across a five-block stretch of north Seattle.
Preliminary information from King County Metro indicated a Route 5 bus was traveling northbound on Greenwood Avenue when it struck one or more vehicles between North 80th and North 85th streets shortly after 11 a.m. At 11:18 a.m., Seattle police received reports of a collision involving a bus and multiple vehicles.
Police arrived and found the crash scene spanning around five blocks on Greenwood Avenue North, from North 80th Street to North 85th Street. The investigation revealed the bus driver was traveling northbound on Greenwood Avenue North when he suffered a medical emergency. A passenger on the bus saw what was happening to the driver and was able to take control of the bus by pressing the brake and steering the bus off the street.
The bus hit approximately seven cars before coming to a stop around North 85th Street, according to Seattle police. The bus driver went to Swedish Cherry Hill as a precaution, and the passenger who stopped the bus went to Harborview Medical Center as a precaution with complaints of arm pain. A Parks and Recreation truck and trailer driver went to Northwest Hospital as a precaution. The street was reopened after an extended closure.
The Route 5 bus begins at Shoreline Community College, then stops at Broadview, Bitter Lake, Greenwood, Woodland Park, Fremont, and Downtown Seattle. The passenger’s quick action potentially prevented far more serious injuries or fatalities by bringing the bus under control before it could strike pedestrians or cause a more catastrophic collision in the busy corridor.
Metro has not disclosed how many passengers were aboard the bus at the time or whether the driver’s medical condition was known prior to the incident. The crash highlights the unpredictable dangers facing transit riders and the importance of passenger awareness during emergencies.
