A man in his 20s was taken to hospital Friday after the truck he was driving smashed into a St. Albert Transit bus, leaving him pinned upside down and screaming.
Police, fire and ambulance closed off the intersection of Mill Drive and St. Vital Avenue Friday afternoon after a collision between a bus and a truck. The collision drew a stream of curious onlookers who had just finished classes at nearby St. Albert Catholic High and V.J. Maloney schools.
St. Albert university student Ally McNamara said she was on the bus when the collision happened. The number A4 bus was headed west on St. Vital past the turnoff to V.J. Maloney at about 3:20 p.m. when a silver and blue Chevy Silverado heading north on Mill entered the intersection at high speed.
“He was coming up really fast,” McNamara said. “The bus driver tried to swerve, and it [the truck] crashed into the bus.”
The collision caved in the passenger side front tire of the truck and shattered the passenger side door window. The bus appeared undamaged and was later driven away by transit staff.
Neighbour Scott Walker said he didn’t see the crash, but ran out of his driveway when he heard a loud smash. The driver of the truck, described as a man in his 20s, was hanging out of the passenger-side window upside-down and bent over backward, pinned between the bus and the truck. “I heard him yelling and screaming, ‘Get me out of here!’ and all that.”
The driver had apparently been thrown from the driver’s side of the truck through the passenger window during the collision, Walker said. “His head was almost touching the ground.” He and other residents told him to stay calm. The man eventually wriggled free and was able to stand upright. He was in obvious pain and had bruises around his head and neck.
The eight passengers on the bus were not injured, McNamara said, and were allowed to go home after speaking with police. The drivers of the truck and the bus were taken to an unspecified hospital for observation.
Walker said that this has been a dangerous intersection ever since the city changed the stop sign on Mill into a yield sign. “This intersection needs a stop sign on both sides.”
Police were still investigating the crash as of press time.
