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Police: Bus driver in Medford crash may have been asleep at the wheel
Investigators “do not believe alcohol and or other intoxicating substances is a factor” in the March 8 crash, MBTA Transit Police said.
An MBTA bus driver accused of crashing into parked cars and the front steps of a Medford home earlier this month appeared to be “at a minimum drowsy, or asleep,” moments before the collision, Transit Police said.
However, investigators “do not believe alcohol and or other intoxicating substances is a factor” in the March 8 crash, Transit Police Supt. Richard Sullivan said Friday.
Authorities have not publicly identified the driver, a 40-year-old man who now faces charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, failing to stop at a red light, and a marked lanes violation.
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Sullivan alleged that while operating the 95 bus prior to the crash, the driver repeatedly crossed over the double yellow lines in the road and ran a red light at the Interstate 93 offramp on the Somerville-Medford line.
“We further allege the operator exhibited signs and body language consistent with an individual to be, at a minimum drowsy, or asleep throughout the lead up to the collision,” he said. “We allege the operator did not apply the brakes prior to the collision.”
Officers responded to the crash at the intersection of Playstead Road and Madison Street around 1:53 a.m., according to Sullivan. The collision allegedly involved not only the MBTA bus, but several parked cars and two nearby buildings. A 98-year-old Medford homeowner previously told The Boston Globe the vehicles came to a rest about a foot from her front window.
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Sullivan said officers didn’t observe any ice or icy conditions in the roadway that night, and ambient temperatures at the time were between 49 and 51 degrees.
The driver has since been suspended, according to Transit Police.
“It would be prudent for me to refrain from any further comment as the case proceeds through the criminal justice system,” Sullivan added.
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