A Metro bus rolled nearly an entire Seattle city block with no one on board.
KIRO-TV showed the video from on board the bus, including the view from the empty driver's seat. It was taken about 11:20 a.m. on Friday.
The video shows the driver get out to reattach the electric trolley bus to the overheard power lines. The bus starts to move, there are no passengers on board.
A camera on the outside of the bus shows the driver chasing the bus down the street. The bus plows into the concrete planters in the bike lane, hits a traffic signal, and stops in the intersection at Second Avenue and Pike Street.
Incredibly, no one was hurt.
King County Metro said the crash is unacceptable. They are investigating what went wrong and suspect the driver forgot to set the emergency brake.
"We're looking into this situation thoroughly to ensure it never happens again." said Terry White, deputy general manager of King County Metro. "We are truly grateful no one was hurt in this situation. We care equally about those drivers and the customers."
Metro said this is the second incident in a few months. It happened last August on the overpass on Pine Street between Bellevue Avenue and 9th Avenue. The driver got out to adjust the wires and didn't set the emergency brake and the bus started rolling downhill. Passengers rushed in to stop it.
White said that's two instances too many.
After last Friday's crash, Metro says it took quick action and started reminding drivers of electric buses to set the emergency brake. They also instituted a new policy requiring drivers to put blocks in front of the wheels every time they get out to reattach the bus to the wires. They are working on a training video to show drivers how set the blocks each time they get out to reattach the bus to the electric wires.
Metro is investigating if the bus was in park. They're also examining the bus to see if anything happened mechanically that contributed to the crash.
The driver is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
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