RTD Bus Plunges Onto Freeway; 13 Hurt

An RTD bus carrying 18 passengers collided with a car at the top of an off-ramp of the San Diego Freeway Friday afternoon, slammed into a guardrail and then plunged 50 feet down a grassy embankment before coming to rest right side up on the freeway.

Ten people were taken to two hospitals for treatment of minor injuries. Three others were treated at the scene by paramedics.

The accident occurred at 12:30 p.m. on the Rimerton Road over-crossing to the southbound San Diego Freeway. The bus, which travels Route 560 between Westwood and Van Nuys Boulevard, had a scheduled stop at a park-and-ride station at Rimerton Road, police investigators said.

After exiting at Mullholland, the bus collided with a car at the intersection of the off-ramp and Rimerton Road, Police Officer Gary Weller said. Witnesses said the car apparently ran a red light, he added.

The bus then continued across the intersection and onto a freeway on-ramp where it hit the guardrail and plummeted onto the freeway, landing “on all fours,” Weller said. Passengers--aided by passers-by--broke windows to escape.

“There was no time to think, I just tried to hold on to the seat. The passengers were yelling and screaming,” said Brian Aguirre, 17, of San Fernando.

The Sylmar High School student, who was on his way to the beach, added: “The light for us (the bus) was green and then it turned yellow. It looked like both (the car and bus) speeded up. Then there was a collision.”

Five Fire Department ambulances and four companies of firefighters were sent to the scene. Paramedics treated three passengers. Five others were taken to UCLA Medical Center, and another five to Sherman Oaks Community Hospital.

The bus driver, Dolores Adams, 42, Sherman Oaks, and the driver of the car, Christine Koontz, 34, Granada Hills, were not cited by police.