Exclusive | Bus driver says Valley Road crash could have been far worse
March 26, 2021Claudius Cummings from Fort George district near McNie in Clarendon is elated that no life has been lost.
His minibus reportedly developed brake issues last evening, got out of control, and slammed into an embankment along Valley Main Road in Lluidas Vale Division, St. Catherine.
It eventually settled on its side.
Before settling, the bus hit a motorcar driven by well-known motorist Fitzoy Williams, better known as ‘Roses’, of the Lluidas Vale Division.
None of the five people travelling in Williams’ car suffered any apparent injury. The rear of the car was damaged and the back seat littered with pieces of broken glass.
“Mi glad to be alive,” Williams told The Beacon, adding that the out-of-control bus fell on the back of his car after hitting the embankment.
The bus driver, in the meantime, said the smash-up could have been worse if he did not act swiftly when his vehicle got out of control on the narrow, winding roadway, which is bordered on one side by a precipice.
The bus driver also explained why he opted to ‘bank’ the bus, which effectively means to steer it into the embankment.
“The brake left mi and mi try to put it in park and shut it off. It still push, and mi try to bank it because there was a long line of traffic in front of me. If I did come straight [on the road], over five, six [or] seven vehicles would get hit. So mi try to bank it because the more it going down [the road] is the more it take up speed,” he commented.
The bus driver, along with his wife, was heading downhill with the vehicle laden with relatively large bags of vegetables and other goods to be sold at market.
The wife complained of injuries, but she reportedly declined to have police officers transport her to hospital.
She waited at the crash scene until her relatives arrived there.
Residents of Valley Road and passers-by, in the meantime, rushed to the assistance of the commuters and motorists involved in the crash.
They also helped to secure the vendor’s goods – placing them together along the roadway.
The residents also joined forces in removing the crashed bus, as well as the pieces of broken glass and other debris, that were left on the roadway especially by the the ill-fated bus.
WE also do obituaries, advertisement, and special coverage of funerals, birthday parties, weddings, and other milestones. Call or WhatsApp us at 876-305-4574 or emaail us at jamaicabeaconnews@gmail.com.
