TRENTON, Maine — A small pickup truck struck the propane tank area of an Island Explorer bus late Wednesday afternoon on Route 3, causing police to halt traffic on the busy road, according to a Hancock County sheriff’s deputy.
The buses are powered by propane.
Traffic was not allowed on or off Mount Desert Island for several hours as firefighters tried to ensure the bus’ propane tank did not explode. Traffic was backed up for miles into the evening hours.
The accident occurred near where Route 230 enters Route 3.
Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.
Lots of people stuck on either side of this accident – hope everyone stays safe and can eventually get home tonight! Hancock County dispatch is saying it will most likely be at least 9:30 pm before they consider opening one lane of traffic, waiting for the propane to dissipate on it’s own – could be an all night event.
I hope all involved are OK, but I must say that the drivers of these buses are the most discourteous ones on the road. They force their way into traffic and expect everyone else to yield to them. It is also interesting that the FFs need to wait & see if the bus will explode, well after the accident.
They have to force their way out because NOBODY will let them out!!!! try driving with all the out of stater all season long. They have to keep a schedule because if they dont they have people crying about it. I drove for them for 2 seasons i know how it is.
yup.
On the Island, we deal with out-of-staters all the time! The bus drivers are MUCH worse than any of the out-of-staters!!! Who do they hire, ex NYC cab drivers????
The buses are a scourge and should be banned from the roads! They haven’t solved anything, they made the situation much, much worse!
you try making a left turn in a bus in summer traffic. Sometimes they have to go when they don’t have quite enough time and the other traffic needs to slow down a little. They are providing a valuable service, don’t be so ungrateful.
That is not an acceptable excuse. They have to wait just like the rest of us. They are providing another reason to get rid of the buses!
except a bus (or large truck) needs a much longer break in traffic to pull out than a passenger car. Sometimes other vehicles might need to slow down a bit when they pull out. That is just the way it is.
I’m not saying the bus driver isn’t at fault in this situation. But they do need to pull out in front of other drivers from time to time and those drivers will need to slow down. A bus needs a huge break in traffic to make a left hand turn when traffic is moving 45mph. They would need to wait all day to pull out.
So their size gives the the RIGHT to force others to accommodate THEM?! Yes, that is the attitude I have witnessed from Islander drivers! Thanks for confirming it.
I for one am very grateful for them as I have no other means of transportation when I most need it.I am assured a safe round trip to anywhere I would have to go on their schedule.
Any one can make a mistake , that’s why they’re called accidents. And why we have eraser’s on pencils.And besides , it was the truck who hit the bus not the other way around. Geez guys , don’t be so hard on each other.
They aren’t providing any service to me, so I can be as ungrateful as I want to be! They are a hazard to traffic and need to be removed from the roads until their safety can be assessed!
If you like them, fine. But you have no right to force everyone else to be inconvenienced so you feel better about yourself or the environment! They need to SHARE the road, NOT drive like they own it!!!!
” Sometimes they have to go when they don’t have quite enough time…”
So you admit they are a hazard to traffic! Thanks for clearing that up once and for all!!
Then let’s ban the dumptrucks, school buses, tractor trailer delivery trucks, UPS trucks and giant Hummers while we’re at it!! Jeez, take a deep breath bhregulator.
Okay! Seems like a bit of an overreaction to me, but if that is what you really believe, go for it! Sure clear YOU were not inconvenienced last night or have had to dodge one of those buses!
They also stop wherever they want to and hold up traffic
thats what buses do… stop to let people on and off…
Any time they friggin’ want to, regardless of traffic or safety! I think not! You create a traffic hazard, you pay the price!
You know, I’ve noticed a pattern. I see so many people so irate and venting their spleens, without bothering to actually identify themselves. Now, I’m not advocating for any violations of privacy, but I will say this much. I give much more credence to someone who is actually willing to put their bloody name to posts and stand up for what they believe in, instead of hiding behind something anonymous spouting vitriol.
That must be real tough, what with the long, long two month season
My husband has been trying to get home to Brewer since 4pm. It’s now 9:40 pm and still not home. Has to be back down there for work at 7am. Going to be a short night!
Your husband and THOUSANDS of others!
stop crying!
Stop making excuses!
I have a couple friends that work at Jackson Labs and everyone that works there is stuck. Makes me glad I only live 10 minutes from work and there are multiple routes to use. That would be the worst!
Y0u know, I think we need to stop all of this dreaming about the East – West Highway and deal with the nightmare that is the road to MDI. People die on that road all summer long. If ever there were a road that cried out for major development it would be that one. How many more people are we willing to see get killed on that drag strip?
what does rt 3 have to do with rt 1a ?
Could it be that it is the southern end of route 1A???? What goes fast on 1A, goes fast on Rt 3.
When I read the comment I was wondering that myself….
Two words:
Public. Transportation.
The problem is not the road. It’s the number of cars on the road.
LOL. A bus was involved in the accident, vis-a-vis “public transportation.” Look at what a mess public transportation that burns a clean-burning fuel can cause.
Yep – another disaster brought about by environmentalism…
that road, and 1A between Ellsworth and Holden, get closed often because of fatal car accidents. The buses probably help, since they at least get some of the cars off the road — they’ve probably reduced the number of accidents overall. More public transportation would be a good thing.
Thank you, John. Someone gets it.
Oh yea, remove a few cars and replace them with a lot of buses – great improvement!
Anyone that has ever seen one of those buses knows they travel mostly empty!!!
Flawed logic if ever there was!
If one was not familiar with your many reactionary comments, one might snicker at what appears to be a lame attempt at satire. But, dirigodad, you mean it, don’t you? That really is your “take away” from this article, isn’t it? Your “conservative” mind never fails to disappoint. Well done! Bye the bye, please learn the correct usage of vis-a-vis.
Speaking of reactionary…
I just find it hard to overlook the irony of someone calling for more public transportation as a way to avoid accidents when public transportation was involved in the accident. You don’t?
Incidentally, Merriam-Webster lists “in relation to” (which absolutely fits) as the second definition of “vis-a-vis.” Perhaps one should know something of which he speaks before he criticizes arrogantly. It may help you save face somewhere down the road.
No. Think it through.
I will use the definition you have provided, and I agree is correct, to restate your original statement. “A bus was involved in the accident in relation to ‘ public transportation'”. See the problem yet? My criticism is accurate, not arrogant. Incidentally, I never called for more public transportation in my comment, so your question-“You don’t?”-is just, well, irrelevant.
Bye the bye ……? that really” takes away” from this sarcastic remark.
“Bye the bye” was meant to imitate the cadence of “vis-a-vis”. Sorry that didn’t register with you. Oh and, bye the bye, my only sarcasm was the “Well done!” part.
Sorry darling , I totally missed the mark on my overall comments today I guess. Foot got in the way 8)
At least that’s one less ‘Green” job out there!
Five words:
Island Express IS public transportation! The problem is not the number of cars on the road, the problem is the number of buses that think they own the road!
Did you happen to notice it was PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION that caused the accident!
Public transportation prevents many more accidents than it causes. If you put 20 people on a bus, that’s 20 fewer cars in traffic. If you build a light-rail system between Bangor and Bar Harbor, with a separate bridge to MDI, that reduces traffic and commuter times even more. At some point, we are going to have to re-assess our culture of transportation that relies 99% on people driving their own cars, everywhere, all the time. More and more literature is appearing on this theme. You can’t simply continue building roads and selling vehicles — it has been shown that that approach INCREASES traffic and all the attendant safety problems.
One bus, one truck? Looks like the ratio was way down. Problem is these buses are driven by poor drivers.
Please be the first to give up YOUR car! I think we would all feel safer and would certainly welcome one less can on the road!
Doesn’t matter to you in the least that most Island Explorers travel virtually empty, does it.
I did, five years ago. And I’m hardly the first.
Recommended reading: How to Live Happily Without Owning a Car, by Chris Balish.
Look it up on amazon.com.
No thanks, too busy living a very full life to bother with Leftist environ-mental propaganda. Let me guess, you drove a Subaru?
Allow me thank you. One less to worry about hitting me or slowing me down!
I drove many cars over my years as an American car owner, but never a Subaru. Like most people, I assumed that owning a car was necessary to leading a full life. Turns out I was wrong. I don’t think there is anything particularly Leftist about choosing to spend my money on things that I value more than 24/7 access to my own personal vehicle.
You’re welcome, by the way. I am dismayed that while thousands of accidents a year are caused by drivers making poor decisions, you want to take this valuable service off the road because of one accident that inconvenienced you for part of one day.
I said remove them until their safety can be ascertained. You argue with that? Would you prefer rolling time bombs on the roads? Would you feel comfortable riding in something that could explode if struck?
It’s only a valuable service if it’s serving YOU, otherwise it’s just another vehicle on the road.
i take public transportation to work every day. And the bus is mostly full.
If that work for you, fine. But you and your fellow lemmings have no right to inconvenience any else!
If you put 20 people on a bus built for 50, you’re losing money…those 20 fewer cars are all using gasoline, which includes a gas tax designed – if used and budgeted properly – to maintain the roads. Take those cars off the road and who is going to pay for road upkeep?
Incidentally, just because you may live in a place that has ready access to public transportation, that doesn’t do anyone any good who may live in a rural area and needs to get to another rural area to visit a relative.
Are buses going to start pulling landscape trailers so that my son can get from one lawnmowing job to the next one?
It’s all about freedom and liberty to move about as we please. You’re not into that. I get it, Comrade.
Obviously not everyone can use the bus, just as not everyone uses the public school system or cares about the discoveries being made on Mars and Titan by space probes. Does that make them an unworthy use of tax dollars? And is your car (which benefits from many hidden subsidies, including tax dollars from other sources than gasoline to maintain the roads) filled to capacity all the time? I have as much freedom and liberty to move about as you do. Enterprise rent-a-car is friendly and inexpensive, and I am free from monthly car payments and insurance (except for the 10-12 days a year I use rentals). So enough with the “comrade” nonsense. My advocacy of public transportation does not affect your freedom one whit.
Oh, yes it does. The goal of public transportation zealots like yourself is to remove vehicles off the roads, which would restrict the liberty of citizens to more freely. What happens when Enterprise runs out of cars (happened to us when our vehicle broke down)?
Don’t like the “comrade” reference? Stop advocating for the restriction/removal of freedom.
I think if there were fewer vehicles on the road, you would be able to move MORE freely.
I like your use of the term “zealot” even less than “comrade.” But it’s my fault for trying to have a reasonable conversation with someone who already has all the answers. Enjoy the traffic this summer.
See, though, it’s bigger than you and me. Sure, I’d be able to move more freely.
But society is bigger than you and me. I’m thinking of the others who have and want to enjoy the liberty to move freely as well.
You aren’t.
It doesn’t say they caused it, just that it was involved.
Um, the bus DID cause this accident according to eye witnesses and first responders. That good enough for you?
Look at the picture. He’s pulling out onto the road
Where did you read that? The article says “Truck” Hits Island Explorer Bus “…??
You do not know what you are talking about .
A divided highway from Brewer to Ellsworth (and preferably around Ellsworth) would help immensely as there are often accidents on route 1A between Holden and Ellsworth (and many of these are head on fatal accidents that wouldn’t happen with a divided road). Then you’d still need to solve the Ellsworth-Bar Harbor problem and the bottleneck of one way on/off MDI.
Just what we need! Another 4-lane highway! Great idea! I-95, I-295, and the Maine Turnpike NEVER close down because of an accident! … Wait, didn’t I-95 in Bangor get shut down a few days ago because of an accident?
When we invest in only one mode of transportation, we get angry when it fails, don’t we? Time to diversify our transportation system.
95 gets shut down less often than 1A and route 3. The fact is head on collisions are too common on this stretch of road. A divided highway eliminates head on collisions.
Yes, let’s diversify! I’d like to order one flying pick up truck, please. That way when this happens again and bus riders get incinerated I won’t be held up!
Get real, this is Maine, even alternatives to personal vehicles ‘can’t get there from here!’
Drag strip? Last night it was a parking lot!!!
What happens when (not if) there is a huge fire on MDI. Eventually it will happen again like in 1947 partly because of the National park letting all the fields grow up and not cleaning up fallen down trees. We all should be looking into another way off this Island. I know someone who sat in the line yesterday for over 4 hours for a traffic accident what about a devastating fire you would have to leave your vehicle and run across the bridge. Just think about it
Another what if! What if another bus gets hit on the bridge and it explodes then what will they do if the bridge is out? I agree with you we need another way off the island….I hope this is the beginning of someone or something looking into route 3 and the fiasco it has become. I think it is time for change and another route would be great…
Drag strip? Never been able to travel fast enough to call it a drag strip. More like a moving parking lot. And you should see it when it rains. Speed is cut in half and twice as long to get to work. Transplants who cant drive in nothing but ideal conditions.
EXACTLY!
doubtful that the road will change that would require the voters of the island to agree to that. They don’t like changing much on the island unless its building another hotel.
Mainers HATE spending money on what they NEED, they are to busy spending it on what they WANT!
I wasn’t really thinking in terms of money. I was just thinking about how things that would be nice to have usually get turned down by the town. You can’t even paint your business without an ok on the colors. The town could have had a nice new Hannaford which would have been great for the area but that got voted down . Yet somehow new hotels ( which they dont need) keep getting the ok. I just think its odd. so chances are unless a wider road will benefit a hotel it will get turned down :(
Looks like the bus pulled out in front of the pickup.
It did! The bus driver cut in front of the truck, like so many of them do on a daily basis! Anyone that lives or drives on MDI know they do it all the time, like they own the road.
Difference is, this time it was confirmed by first responders!
they just opened one lane of traffic
Thank God no one was hurt.
And they try to assure us that absolutely NOTHING could ever happen like this when the new 23 million gallon propane tank is up and running in Searsport.
A tanker truck hauling 10,000 gallons of propane being struck by a “small” pick-up truck would make for quite a big boom along Rt.1 if it exploded.
Can you say “Sorry tourists, You can’t there from here.” ?
13 years I’ve been commuting onto the island, this evening it was a 6 hour (park) drive home – the record. Everyone on the commuter bus was held up just like me and my carpool buddy. It’s not the # of vehicles, it is the ONE 2 lane road between the mainland and island. Nothing short of a second bridge or flying cars can fix that. It really made us wonder that so many people leave the island every day for work/whatever and so many come onto the island for work/whatever. Kind of a set-up for fuel waste and traffic problems. Thankful the emergency personnel prevented an explosion/fire and the cars that passed us by using the opposite lane breakdown lane did not cause any further accidents, and the families that left their cars by the side of the road and walked around with small children in dark clothing after dark were not hurt.
Hey BDN, could you please find out why we havent heard of any charges filed in the Main St. Hit and Run. This human being was KILLED and we have yet to hear a story regarding what was charged or the name of the person driving the car. Even a minor can be named if the charge is strong enough as we have seen in the instance of the minor that was charged with killing his own child last year…Please investigate these stories and stop allowing them to be forgotten about…
Guess the KJ is much better at reporting/investigating than Bangor. Sad you have to go to another towns paper to get your local news. Shame on BDN. http://www.kjonline.com/news/Bangor-police-make-arrest-in-hit-and-run-death-.html
NECN reports that Patricia Giles of Brewer has been arrested for this.
There is now an article.
Jeff here is the article
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/06/14/news/bangor/brewer-woman-arrested-in-bangor-hit-and-run/#comment-557141069 Enjoy buddy
Its to bad people had to be stuck in this accident but im glad everyone is ok , someone is blaming the bus driver for the accident, but if you look at the picture look where the pickup is on the other side of the line and it would have only took 1 sec. to apply brakes to let the bus out and if they didnt have the buses there might be people that couldnt get to a Dr. apt. or to a store there is always someone in a hurry and sometimes to go no where , if i see someone pulling out i would apply my brakes instead of causing an accident.
Look again! The bus pulled out in front of the truck, not giving the truck any room to stop. Once the truck hit, the bus kept moving ,dragging the truck out of it’s lane. One second is not enough time to stop a truck that has the right-of-way!
The size of the bus and also colliding with the truck, the bus could have easily move the front end of the truck. The bottom line is according to state law you are supposed to yield to traffic when entering a public road.
Traffic tied up for hours while emergency folk try VERY VERY hard to prevent the propane blowing up. There would be no escape if the proposed 23million gallon tank directly on route 1 is approved. It would be a terrorist’s wet dream and for the rest of us, the most horrible nightmare.
an explosion was pretty unlikely, but they had to take precautions.
For 6 hours? LP Was gone a long time before that.
I wonder how fast that truck must have been going. It looks like it hit just behind the the first window and went several feet along the side of the bus taking off the paint before it stopped. Looks like it was the duals that stopped the truck. Those propane tanks are way heavier steel than gasoline or diesel tanks. I wonder if the truck hit the fuel port. WOW.
I agree it’s a bit ironic, that this is a clean fuel bus, essentially holding up a massive amount of fossil fuel burning cars for hours and hours, pumping their noxious fumes into the air last night. That being said, as a native of MDI I would really like to see some kind of (at least) emergency 1 lane causeway built, imagine what would happen if there was some form of catastrophe and we had to evacuate, but the road was blocked? Highly dangerous, us being at the mercy of that bridge. I would think it would also perhaps assist on a daily basis emergency vehicles coming/going from the island, as they could use that access route if traffic is snarly coming onto/going off the island. Well, at end I’m glad nobody was hurt!
Looks to me like the bus pulledout in front of the truck. Shocker! (Sarcasm) These drivers are a nuisance at best dangerous at worst.
You might want to read the post above by Erin Eaton who drove one of those buses for a season… she makes it clear that there are always two sides to a story. I know, I know… it’s really easy to judge a situation or a person when we don’t fully understand both sides of an issue. We all have a tendency to consider only the effect a situation has on us. But, I think after you read her post you might be able to appreciate that what seems like a nuisance to you… is seen very differently by the drivers of those buses.
She points out that drivers on the road show no courtesy to the buses and refuse to let them out. We all have our own deadlines and there is no question that people are in a hurry to get where they want to be or where they need to be. The only real difference between bus drivers and you is that bus drivers must meet deadlines every hour or so while some of the people who get annoyed with them are simply impatient and don’t have deadlines at all. Of course there are others who are trying to get to work and appointments on time. So those people have a dilemma equal to he bus drivers. When people won’t let tour buses out it makes them late returning for the next tour. Here they are greeted by hostile customers and an angry employer who is angry because they are costing the company money. Small businesses can not afford to lose money right now. Tour bus drivers therefore are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
In all fairness people feel the same way about school bus drivers. If there weren’t laws requiring vehicles to stop when a school bus has it’s lights on I have no doubt that children would be hit and killed all the time. Drivers aren’t patient and don’t want to be delayed by any kind of bus. Very few, if any, drivers will let a bus out in front of them – even when they aren’t meeting deadlines.
I think everyone can agree that no one actually likes to be behind a school bus or a tour bus because it slows us down. But when people won’t let buses out into the traffic the buses are forced to inch their way out. From their perspective I would imagine that drivers who are in such a hurry that they can’t or won’t let a bus out a a stop in front of them, would be considered by the bus drivers to be a nuisance and a hazard.
The bottom line, there really are two sides to every story and the only solution I can see to this problem is not to point fingers of blame but rather to work together to improve the roads so that cars, trucks and buses can co-exist safely.
Very well said!
Still no excuse to pull out into traffic when you dont have an opening. Go ahead and try it sometime. These buses have been a nuisance since they were implemented. Its not the buses persay but the quality of drivers they hire. Tour buses have professional drivers that can deal with traffic, these are commuter buses driven by less trained individuals. I’ve driven this road for over 20 years and have seen it all from pulling out in front of someone to holding up traffic in the middle of RTE 3 to unload a bicycle. They think they are intitled.
VERY WELL SAID! And God help you if you ride a motorcycle, they see them as small little insignificant targets to cut off!!!
Drivers disrespect the Island buses because they are sick and tired of being bullied off the road by them! They ALL act like THEY own the road, not SHARE it!
No they do not ALL act like that!
Yes, you are correct. I have to admit that some Islander drivers do drive safely and courteously. Perhaps I’ve experienced the same drivers more than once and that has jaded my perception. I stand corrected, thanks.
Ordinary cars are ignorant to motorcycle riders just as often as bus drivers… in fact, they are convinced that they can fit next to a motorcycle in the same lane.
Indeed! But a kick in dent in the door usually dissuades them.
Well of course there is no excuse to pull out into traffic when there is no opening – that goes for anyone, bus, car, motorcycle, truck, etc… But, the problem is that people tend to vocalize that it’s not their fault when they’re involved in an accident or make assumptions just like you are doing based upon your personal beliefs that all commuter bus drivers are bad drivers. The truth is that no two people drive exactly alike so it’s a nonsensical statement to say that bus drivers or all car drivers or all truck drivers or all motorcycle drivers are either all good or all bad. That’s just ridiculous!
My uncle was a experienced tractor trailer driver, an extraordinary mechanic and a incredible USA tour bus driver. According to him the worst drivers on the road were those who carry only a standard driver’s license. His logic was that everyone else has to take and pass more rigid driving tests in addition to their standard licensing. This is true as there are motorcycle written and road tests, tractor trailer school, written and road tests, bus driver schooling, written and road tests, etc… To drive a car only means only one basic written and road test with no extra skill required. He additionally based his conclusion on the fact that bus and tractor trailer drivers are much more experienced drivers. All of his logic is very true but… also very general, too general.
I heard this kind of thing from him all my life and while I love him and respect his opinion and I do acknowledge that his logic bears great merit… I still think that this kind of generic statement is ridiculous. For you to imply that you and all other car and pick-up drivers are the good drivers and don’t cause accidents while at the same time making generic judgments claiming that all the commuter bus drivers are bad drivers is very much the same thing. The only difference between you and my uncle is that you aren’t providing any logic to support your claims against commuter bus drivers.
Drivers are individuals with different experience and skill levels. No two are alike whether they drive cars, pick up trucks, tractor trailers, motorcycles, boats, mopeds, airplanes, helicopters, buses of all kinds or whatever else a person can drive. That’s my point.
Its just like any bus drivers that drive these, Bangor is the same way. They run red lights. They dont yield. Shocking no one has been hurt yet by a few drivers
Easy to see most posters were not stuck in this mess! I WAS!!! The bus, as usual, pulled out in front to the truck fully expecting it to stop. It didn’t/couldn’t in time. It was fully the fault of the bus driver!!!
As for the delay of 6 hours, that was because the responders had no clue what to do. “Propane if flammable so we have to close down everything.” Well so is gasoline, and that doesn’t take 6 hours to clear. The only reason the road was closed for that long is because they could, not because they had to!
This is not the first time an Island Explorer has cause an accident, and it won’t be the last. They are a menace to everyone. Those that support them don’t have to deal with them!
Fire Fighters waiting to see if the bus explodes is like waiting to see if a house fire goes out on it’s own!
If the bus driver is at fault,which is the case. The driver should be summoned for failure to yield.
Agreed!
no no its just an accident
I was stuck in that mess too but instead of complaining about what an inconvenience it was for me, I was more than happy to just count my blessings that I wasn’t involved in the accident and was able to reach my final destination safely.
Well good for you. Most of the rest of us (thousands, actually) had a life we would have preferred to be getting home to! But as long as YOU felt good about it, then everything is okay.
Is is too much to expect action to a problem? Guess in your world it is.
booo hooo!
Typical response to a problem! Reality is NEVER the issue if intentions are good!!!
Oh believe me I would have rather gotten home on time too but instead of sitting there boo-hoo’ing like you and the thousand others you’re referring to, I tried to make the most of it without feeling sorry for myself, sorry I don’t have time for that kind of nonsense.
You are just a superior human being, that you make perfectly clear!
vapor is more explosive. A ruptured LP tank is going to result in a potentially explosive vapor cloud until it dissipates.
OK you want to do away with them lets do away with every thing that people don’t like,, fire crackers, casinos,bingo,hunting, fishing,all dams,atv’s, snowmobiles, all stop signs,all trafic lights motor boats, sking down hill an im sure that people could add more to this list .
Or we can just check the safety of the buses before letting them all over the place.
My son’s class from Northern Maine went to Bar Harbor yesterday. They got stuck coming back due to the accident. They made the decision to return to Bar Harbor after sitting for quite some time. A BIG THANK YOU to the lady that supplied them pizza in the park! It was much appreciated! The kids finally made it home around 2:00am….very tired but SAFE!
Confirmed by eye witnesses and first responders!
Being stuck just about 10 cars back from the front I can tell you that the bus driver cut in front of the truck, like so many of them do on a daily basis! Anyone that lives or drives on MDI know they do it all the time, like they own the road.
Difference is, this time it was confirmed by first responders!
Great then he will be fired.
Or more likely given a promotion!
Yeah right!
So what you are saying is that the emergency responders confirmed that this accident was caused by the bus driver and normally emergency personnel do not confirm that the accidents are caused by bus drivers. Interesting…
All I can say is the officer that spoke to us, and took our statements, indicated that others had reported the same thing we saw – the bus pulled out in front of the truck.
The buses need to be stopped until their safety can be assessed!
If you applied this standard to cars, no one would be allowed to drive.
Cars are crash-tested regularly. Those buses would NEVER pass a crash test!
that is a load of crap. you don’t think buses have to meet federal highway safety standards? Communities all over the country use propane and natural gas powered buses safely.
Oh well if communities all over the country are using them, then they must be safe!
So the delay last night was for what again, if not safety?
Not the buses, the drivers of the buses
Them too!
Seems to me like they should have an extra layer of protection around the tank area. Does not look like a very high speed crash.
If the tank had ruptured like they said what was the reason for holding up traffic for 6 hours???
Propane is gone and there was no explosion. Tow the vehicles and open the road. Small town fire departments dont know as much as they think.
How long does it have to take to clean up after a simple 2-vehicle crash? Close a major highway for hours? Who was in charge of this fiasco? People couldn’t get “off the island” for 3-4 hours. Can someone get crashes cleaned up with a sense of expediency and recognize the difference between “snarled traffic” and 4+ hours of road blocked off!!
It was 6+ hours, but point well taken!
The propane is delivered in liquid form, but when it is exposed to air, it becomes a noxious gas. They had to allow the gas to dissipate at its own speed, some 60 liquid gallons. I would imagine, noting the position of the vehicles that they could not risk a spark for as you know a spark would ignite the fumes and hence the feared explosion.
That is why a second route in/out would be beneficial.
Judging from the complete absence of public service personnel at the impromptu parking lot scene, I’d say there was no plan in place for dealing with such an incident. None of us had any idea how long or short the wait might be and could not plan accordingly. Where were they? Much speculation circulated. It was just luck I had a thermos of coffee, plenty of gas, a fully charged cell phone and a newspaper to read. Plus being in one of the few spots where there is actually a signal! Until last night I didn’t know those buses were moving bombs.
Obviously the Sheriff’s car that came and went was just too busy or important to bother telling the thousands waiting what was going on. Don’t those cars have a loud speaker?
We understand. You were frustrated to wait so long. We heard you. And heard you. And heard you……..
And we will see if anything is done about this potentially dangerous situation!
Or if you and so many proclaim, it’s a small price to pay for such a wonderful service to humanity!
Now THAT would be a reasonable request to put into the Sheriff’s Dept. – that in the event traffic is being held up for hours for an accident or any reason that they use a loud speaker to keep the stranded people informed about what is going on.
They could easily have done it, but chose not to.
A 2-vehicle crash closed a vital highway for how long? 5+hours? Are you friggin’ kidding me? Who was cleaning this wreck up….the 3 Stooges?
Oh, there were more Stooges than just 3 there! You needed one to scratch the other one’s head, while the third asked, “What do you think we should do?”
Would you say the same think if personal at the seen was killed because that tank did explode i bet not you would of said why did not they whate a little longer .
Did it, I guess I missed that part.
You have never been on the fire dept its called safety first all it would take is one little spark an BOOM
Someone needs to build another route off the island. I set in that traffic jam for 6 hours last night just ridiculous and everything was cleaned up and long gone before they let us go…That seems to be the new way they handle accidents around here, shut it down, clean it up and make everyone wait. Firemen and policemen around here need to go be trained in the city where they deal with this stuff everyday and don’t shut traffic down unless they absolute have too.
It isn’t the responders fault. The DEP got involved because of the propane and it’s explosiveness. Everything gets screwed up when the Feds get involved.
It never ceases to amaze me how people are so quick to judge the job that others are doing simply because they don’t understand what’s happening. Blame the firemen and police officers for not being fast enough? Really… how do you know it wasn’t necessary?
Comparing local emergency personnel to city personnel is apples to oranges. In cities it is not uncommon for emergency responders to close down a road for hours or even days. The difference is that cities always have more than one way in/out.
They must have forgot the update…
I don’t understand why local emergency personnel haven’t been trained on dealing with these buses if/when they are in an accident. Why wasn’t this done YEARS ago prior to an accident? Was it not possible to allocate some of the donations from L.L. Bean towards doing a training every few years to handle these inevitable situations safely and efficiently?
The organizations that use these buses should be held accountable for the 6-hour delay. I was in traffic for almost two hours (I was one of the lucky ones who could turn around and go home) and missed my nephew’s 8th grade graduation. I think we all deserve a more sincere apology than what was delivered.
Thankfully no one was seriously injured and bravo to the safety personnel that spotted the leak and the danger involved!