Fatal bus crash on I-90 WEST over Busse Road near Mount Prospect. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Illinois State Police Troopers and firefighters and paramedics from Elk Grove Township Fire Protection District and Arlington Heights responded about 2:54 p.m. Friday, March 25, 2022 to a report of a rollover crash involving a charter bus and a passenger vehicle at Interstate 90 WEST and Mile Marker 72.5. The first Illinois State Police Trooper arrived on the scene about 2:58 p.m. and discovered a tan Nissan Altima rolled upside down with severe damage just wests of the I-90 bridge over Busse Road. A female driver, age 62, was pinned inside her vehicle. The charter bus that was involved in the crash with the Nissan Altima, was discovered about one-quarter mile west of the Nissan on the right shoulder near Mile-Marker 72.25.
The bus driver was the only person on the bus. He was found dead at the scene, partially ejected with life-ending injuries between the bus and the cement wall of the right shoulder of I-90.
The driver of the Nissan Altima was extricated by firefighters and paramedics, and transported to Level 1 Trauma Center Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge with injuries initially believed to be non-life-threatening.
The driver of the bus may have suffered a medical incident prior to the crash, but this was not confirmed by the Illinois State Police. A 9-1-1 caller reported that the driver was head down inside the stairs of the bus while the bus was traveling westbound on Interstate 90 — apparently with no one in the driver’s seat of the bus. The caller was apparently trying to figure out a way stop the bus, but there was no confirmation whether this driver was witnessing the bus driver in the bus stairs before the crash or after the crash.
Illinois State police stated that just before 3:00 p.m. the bus crossed over into another lane, hitting a Nissan that was traveling in the same direction (westbound on I-90). The crash caused both vehicles to hit the median wall of Interstate 90.
Illinois State Police investigators said the Nissan flipped onto its roof on the left shoulder, but the charter bus glanced off the median wall and crossed all lanes of traffic toward the right shoulder. According to Illinois State Police, the bus came to rest on the right side of the roadway.
The bus apparently hit the right shoulder wall near the bridge over Busse Road, and continued about one-quarter mile scraping along the concrete wall of the right shoulder of I-90 WEST. The door of the bus went over the bridge, falling just east of Busse Road and just north of the I-90 overpass. The bus apparently came to a stop without the control of the driver, and decelerated without any pressure on the gas pedal.
The most severe damage to the bus was located along the roof over the bus driver’s seat and the left side of the bus. The front-left damage apparently occurred on impact with the Nissan Altima and the median wall. The right side of the bus was also damaged along with the missing bus door, normally located to the right of the bus driver’s seat and entrance/exit stairs.
The driver of the bus, was identified as a 66-year-old man from Wheeling. His identity was not initially released pending notification of family members.
All westbound lanes of I-90 were blocked at Elmhurst Road for an extended crash investigation. All lanes were still blocked at 6:45 p.m., but some lanes of I-90 WEST re-opened shortly after 6:45 p.m. All lanes were opened after the bus was towed away around 7:30 p.m. There are five lanes plus a full-width right shoulder at the location where the bus came to rest. There is also a full-width shoulder at the median wall near where the charter bus and Nissan crashed. There is a concrete Jersey Barrier wall at the median shoulder and at the right shoulder along the entire stretch of Interstate where the crash occurred. Jersey-barrier walls are designed to restrain out-of-control vehicles to prevent head-on crashes, off-road crashes, and over-bridge crashes.
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