A crash between two MTA buses injured 12 people Friday morning in Williamsbridge, both MTA and FDNY officials confirmed with the Bronx Times.
The two Bx31 buses slammed into each other at a traffic light at East 229 Street and Laconia Avenue, at around 9:36 a.m, FDNY officials said. An MTA spokesperson told the Bronx Times it was “too early” to determine which driver was at fault, and said they are still investigating the cause of the crash.
Bus collisions have been ticking up since 2018, a trend the MTA has blamed on the high number of new bus drivers on the road. The agency lost a chunk of bus drivers during the pandemic during the MTA’s hiring freeze that was lifted in February 2021.
But motor vehicles crashes, overall, have been on the rise this year with traffic deaths up 11% over last year, and on pace for the highest rate in a decade.
Fifty-one people were killed in traffic crashes during just the first three months of this year, according to numbers released by Transportation Alternatives.
Last month, according to NYPD motor vehicle accident data, there were 1,449 accidents in the Bronx, resulting in 589 injuries. The prevailing cause of those accidents is inattentive or distracted driving, listed as the contributing factor in 393 of those accidents last month.
