Probe of Freeway Crash Involving MTA Bus Continues

Traffic on the Hollywood Freeway remained snarled or rerouted for much of the morning commute Friday as investigators converged on the site where a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus jumped the median and caused a 12-car pileup, killing two people.

Investigators focused their investigation on a silver Honda Accord, which they believe clipped the bus while both vehicles were traveling north near Burbank Boulevard at about 60 mph, according to a statement released by the California Highway Patrol.

Late Friday afternoon, CHP Officer Robert E. Stegemann said the driver of the Accord, Claudia Alvarez of Los Angeles, was “upset at being pointed to as the cause of the accident.” He said the cause is under investigation by the department’s major accident investigation team.

MTA Chief Executive Officer Joseph Drew said the bus driver had been taken off duty pending the investigation. He said the move was a routine action after such accidents.

“We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families of those killed and to the injured victims of this tragic accident,” Drew said in a statement, adding, “Incidents such as this one strengthen our resolve that safety must remain our top priority.”

Richard L. Hunt, the MTA’s deputy executive director for operations, said the driver was “very shook up” Friday and received counseling. He said the bus had no history of problems and had traveled 400 miles since last undergoing a thorough inspection.

According to the CHP’s account of the accident, the bus was in the lane next to the fast lane when the Honda changed lanes and struck the bus. The bus driver, 22-year-old Sergio Blancarte of Los Angeles, swerved left and lost control of the vehicle, according to the statement.

The bus then ran through the center divider and landed in the carpool and fast lanes of the southbound Hollywood Freeway, striking a Chrysler, the CHP said. The bus skidded along the wall until it was hit by a motorcycle ridden by John Lee Luster, 35, of Redondo Beach, according to the CHP.

Luster braked but his motorcycle hit the bus, but he was fatally injured as he slid beneath it, according to the CHP.

A Toyota pickup driven by Andres Pollon of Northridge then hit the bus, the CHP said. Pollon, who was wearing his seat belt, was cut from the truck over an hour later by firefighters and airlifted to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he underwent surgery Friday, according to CHP and hospital officials.

Pollon’s passenger, Teodulo Orta Orduno, 32, of Los Angeles, who was not wearing a seat belt, was killed on impact, according to the CHP.

A Nissan station wagon traveling south on the Hollywood Freeway also struck the bus, and a minivan rear-ended the pickup truck. Five other vehicles were also hit in subsequent collisions and by flying debris.

Brothers Alvaro and Alberto Sanchez, were injured in the crash and treated at North Hollywood Medical Center and released, the CHP said. Another freeway driver, Jose Orta, was injured and remained Friday at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

By the time the collisions ceased, the bus lay diagonally across the concrete median, the tangle of wrecked vehicles creating a huge traffic jam on both sides of the artery that juts north from the junction of the Ventura and Hollywood freeways, north of Universal City.

Hunt said Blancarte, a part-time driver who had only worked for the MTA nine months, had just finished his shift on surface streets in the Universal City area and was returning to an MTA yard in Canoga Park. Hunt said the agency allows drivers to return to base via freeways, and that the bus involved in the accident, a diesel-powered Neoplan, is a type routinely used on Los Angeles freeway routes.

The executive said Blancarte had a “satisfactory” driving record and had not been involved in any accidents. Goldy Norton, spokesman for the area’s bus drivers’ union, said it was not unusual for a 22-year-old to be driving a public bus. He said the agency’s revered and recently deceased president, Earl Clark, had started his career at age 21.

MTA spokeswoman Andrea Greene said the agency has been involved in 15 fatal collisions in the past five years. She said no bus drivers have died in collisions while on duty.