Wheel Kills Bus Driver; Riders Make Safe Stop

Two quick-witted passengers steered an RTD bus to safety on the Harbor Freeway on Sunday morning after an airborne car wheel smashed through the bus’ windshield, fatally injuring the driver.

An unidentified woman and a Rancho Palos Verdes pharmacist, who said he had not driven anything larger than a car for 25 years, grabbed the steering wheel and brought the bus to a stop after it swerved into an embankment south of Rosecrans Avenue.

None of the approximately 12 passengers were hurt, nor did the bus strike any other vehicle, authorities said.

Bouncing Danger

The wheel broke away from a small Toyota traveling north on the freeway, flew over the center divider and bounced twice across the freeway’s southbound lanes before striking the bus, which was traveling from downtown Los Angeles to Palos Verdes.

“I saw the tire come through the windshield,” said pharmacist William H. Patterson, who was sitting several rows behind driver Bobby Hall, 52, when the wheel struck Hall in the head and chest.

The fatally injured driver slumped in his seat and the bus swerved into the embankment.

Simultaneously, an unidentified woman leaped up and grabbed the steering wheel, guiding the bus back into traffic, while Hall’s foot remained on the accelerator, Patterson recalled.

By then, the pharmacist said, he had made his way to the front of the bus and took over the wheel.

“I don’t know anything about gears or anything like that,” said Patterson, 49, who had some experience driving trucks in the military 25 years ago.

Although the pharmacist estimated the bus was traveling at 35 to 40 m.p.h., California Highway Patrol officers say the speed was closer to 55 m.p.h.

Hall remained slumped in the driver’s seat while Patterson vainly tried to wedge his foot onto the brakes. Both Patterson and the woman continued to hold onto the steering wheel as the bus moved forward in traffic.

Hall eventually fell to the floor, allowing Patterson to sit behind the wheel and fully apply the brakes. He brought the bus to a stop, one lane removed from the shoulder.

Then, while using the bus radio to summon help, he kept pressing the brake.

Pressing Buttons

“I was afraid to take my foot off the brake,” Patterson said. “I was really just pressing (radio) buttons asking for help,” without knowing if anyone was listening.

The RTD dispatch desk was listening, and within a couple of minutes, authorities arrived.

Fortunately, the front door of the bus had swung open on its own, because Patterson did not know how to operate the door switch.

Altogether, Patterson estimates that he and the woman were guiding the bus for three to four minutes, during which time the remaining passengers watched “with interest,” he said, noting that one or two were in tears by the end of the episode.

Patterson says he was “just tense” while piloting the 40-seat bus. “I felt the greatest danger was over, that we weren’t going to crash into the wall or turn over.”

Hall, a Carson resident who had driven for RTD for 4 1/2 years, died soon after arrival at Gardena Memorial Hospital, the CHP said.

Search for Driver

As of Sunday evening, authorities were still searching for the driver of the Toyota, who abandoned his car at the side of the freeway and fled. While CHP spokesman Charlotte Foley said officers were conducting a hit-and-run investigation, she was not sure any charges would be filed in the case.

The RTD declined to release the name of the woman who came to the bus driver’s aid.

Patterson, who said he and the woman, who apparently speaks only Spanish, did not talk during their time at the wheel. He said he subsequently was told she had some experience driving buses in Mexico.

Patterson, who was returning home after visiting a friend in Los Angeles, said he normally drives his car. But it was being repaired over the weekend.

Another bus was sent to the scene, and after the passengers were questioned, they were taken to their destinations.

Times staff writer Sheryl Stolberg contributed to this article.