AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A bus driver in Colorado appeared to be “nodding off” when he ran a red light and caused a six-vehicle crash over the summer, according to video and documents related to the incident.
The Aug. 25 crash happened around sunrise on Parker Road in Aurora. The driver, who operated a bus for the Regional Transportation District (RTD), ran a red light and crashed into an SUV, causing a chain of other collisions.
Nathan Yitbark, who works for RTD contractor Transdev, was identified as the driver. Reports from the company and RTD provided more detail of what happened.
The driver began his shift just before 3:30 a.m. The crash was reported around 6:11 a.m., according to the reports.
“After review of the video, it is observed that the operator is opening and closing his eyes several times while approaching the intersection and just as he runs the red light, he opens his eyes and honks the horn and collides” with a vehicle traveling east on Orchard, a Transdev representative wrote in the report.
RTD’s report said the SUV was completely stuck under the front bumper of the bus, and both of its passengers had to be cut out of the vehicle. Another four vehicles were involved, RTD said.
According to the RTD report, the driver was transported to a hospital, as was one of the six passengers on board. Two people in the vehicle hit by the bus suffered “serious” injuries, according to the RTD report.
Corrective action was “pending” as of a day after the crash, as were the driver’s drug and alcohol test results, Transdev reported.
The RTD report said it was unknown whether the driver was cited.
