(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) An out-of-control Arlington Transit bus rolled into a number of parked vehicles and into a building along Columbia Pike.
The crash happened around noon today at the intersection of the Pike and S. George Mason Drive.
Around 10 passengers were on the bus, according to a fire department spokesman, when it rolled through a rental truck depot on the southeastern side of the intersection, near a 7-Eleven store. The bus struck several trucks and a car, which was pushed into a small building on the lot.
The bus passengers were evaluated by medics on scene. One person suffered a minor injury and was taken to the hospital, according to Arlington County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Ben O’Bryant.
Three witnesses told ARLnow that the bus started rolling downhill after the driver exited the bus at a bus stop. Two of those witnesses, who were on the bus at the time, said one of the passengers jumped into the driver’s seat and steered the bus off to the side, away from traffic, thus running into the parking lot and the building.
The person who was injured was inside the building at the time of the crash, the witnesses said.
Police were unable to immediately corroborate the witness accounts provided to ARLnow. Officers remain on scene investigating the cause, an ACPD spokeswoman said, and a building inspector has been called to “evaluate structural integrity of the building.”
ART buses have been involved in a series of significant crashes over the past few years, including:
- ART Bus Suffers Brake Malfunction, Rolls Down Hill — June 2013
- ART Bus Overturns Near Columbia Pike — May 2014
- ART Bus Driver Charged After Seven-Vehicle Wreck on Columbia Pike — December 2014 (the driver was later found not guilty)
- Runaway Bus Smashes into Parked Cars Near Columbia Pike — March 2016
- ART Bus Rolls Into SUV, Yard in Nauck — June 2017
In January of this year ART blamed a shortage of drivers and persistent maintenance issues for a series of service disruptions.
Vernon Miles contributed to this report.