That MTA Bus Crash on North Paca in Baltimore Could Have Been Fatal

When you hear that a bus crashed into two vehicles and a building, you expect the worst, right? Because it sounds like something out of an old school Bruce Willis movie. And yet, the driver of that Maryland Transit Authority (MTA) bus may have saved lives by choosing to crash into The 501 apartment building.

The MTA bus was traveling on North Paca when a speeding driver in a Lexus blew a red light and crashed into the bus before hitting a traffic light pole at the Intersection of West Mulberry and North Paca. The bus then hit another vehicle (a Nissan). But according to Baltimore City Fire Department Spokesperson Kevin Cartwright, “There were bystander, spectator reports that there were vehicles speeding through this [accident scene] and the MTA bus, in an effort to avoid being a part of that, collided into this building.” Even witnesses spoke to the bravery of the bus driver. As one woman who was stopped at the red light put it, if the bus driver hadn’t hit the building “he would have smashed into all of us. We were the third car down…. It’s not the bus driver’s fault. For him to make the decision, risk his own life to save all of us.”

A total of 17 people were injured, including the bus driver and the drivers of the Lexus and the Nissan, but everyone survived. Cartwright said that “Not one [injury] was life threatening. Not one. They were all categorized as priority two and priority three patients. Level one would be critical.”

Which is pretty extraordinary, if you ask us. Also extraordinary is that the apartment building wasn’t as structurally compromised as you’d expect. The Sun reports that the first floor has been condemned, but it appears the rest of the newly renovated building is fine.

This Baltimore bus accident could have been far worse

As terrible as this collision was, it could’ve been far worse. In 2019, a vehicle crashed into an MTA bus in the 800 block of West Patapsco Avenue, and two people died. A collision between an MTA bus and a Baltimore City school bus in 2016 led to four deaths. In December last year, an MTA bus crashed and overturned by McComas Street and three people were injured.

We know firsthand how deadly bus collisions can be. This entire situation could have ended very differently.

Speed causes deadly accidents in Maryland

There were 7,947 speed-related accidents in Maryland in 2021. They caused 96 deaths and 3,187 injuries. Just this year, excessive speed was cited as one of the causes of a devastating work zone crash that killed six people on the Beltway.

Speeding is always dangerous, but the risks can increase on local streets, even if the vehicles are moving more slowly than they might on a highway. Local streets are narrower with fewer (if any) additional travel lanes, meaning other drivers may have no place to go to avoid the speeding driver. There are typically pedestrians and cyclists sharing those roads and sidewalks, too. There are other vehicles that are parked on the side of the road.

The point here is that there could be an increased chance of a multi-vehicle wreck because all those vehicles are in close proximity to one another. And when a speeding vehicle hits a pedestrian or a cyclist, the results can be catastrophic. Yet Maryland drivers are still behaving as though no one is on the road with them, engaging in same risky behaviors.

Vehicles crash into buildings a lot more than you think

One thing that surprised us was that no one in the apartment building was injured. Building strikes (also called “incursions”) can cause injuries and fatalities.

According to the Storefront Safety Council, 16,000 people are injured and 2,600 people died each year because of building strikes. It works out to about 100 incidents a day.

Building strikes are typically the result of some kind of driver error or negligence: pedal confusion (20%), drunk driving (15%) and operator error (21%) account for more than half of them. But traffic accidents account for 12% of all building strikes. That no pedestrians, cyclists, residents or building employees were injured is excellent news indeed.

Who is liable in this kind of MTA bus crash?

This is a tricky kind of case. Under other circumstances, the liable parties are likely to include:

1. The driver of the Lexus who was speeding and ran through the red light
2. The driver of the MTA bus, who crashed into the building
3. The Maryland Transit Authority itself

How this particular case would proceed, we cannot say at this time. We would need more details than the local news reports have provided.

In general, that is how it goes with any type of vehicle collision. When you are hurt in a crash (or in any way), one of the first things we do is look at the scene of that accident. We review any footage from speed cameras, surveillance cameras, cell phone cameras – even video doorbell footage, if we can get it. We may also work with an accident reconstructionist to help us create a visualization of the collision. Doing this allows us to show a jury (or a boardroom filled with attorneys for the defense) just how the crash happened and why you are not to blame.

We also review your medical and employment records to understand the true extent of your injuries, what kinds of treatments you will require, how long those treatments may last – and how all of that affects your job and financial future. Once we have this information, we can help you by filing your case for damages.

All of us at Plaxen Adler Muncy, P.A. are genuinely happy that this MTA crash didn’t end in fatalities, because it absolutely could have. But if you are injured in a collision with another vehicle, we are here to help. Our Maryland car accident lawyers serve folks throughout the state. Call or contact us at any time to schedule a free consultation at one of multiple locations, or through phone or video.