A crash involving a Megabus and several other cars caused major backups on the Indiana Toll Road Tuesday afternoon.
Indiana State Police said the bus was traveling on the Indiana Toll Road just before 1 p.m. when it was involved in a chain reaction crash when the driver failed to slow down and stop for traffic.
The 2010 Van Hoover double decker bus, owned by Megabus, was en route from Indianapolis to Chicago and was driven by 63-year-old Albert Jackson of Richton Park, Illinois, according to authorities.
The bus was westbound in the center lane at the 2.1 mile marker near the Indianapolis Boulevard exit when it hit a 2003 Honda Pilot sitting in traffic from an earlier fatal accident on the roadway.
A van in front of the Honda swerved to avoid being hit, but the bus then rear-ended a four-door Kia, causing it to spin out and hit the barrier wall on the right shoulder. Police said the bus then swerved, hitting a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox in the left lane, causing the Equinox to hit a 2014 Subaru Outback.
The driver of the Kia and his wife were taken to North Lake Hospital in Gary with non-life threatening injuries, police said. The driver of the Equinox and the Outback were not injured.
The bus was carrying 80 passengers. One passenger was checked out at the scene by emergency personnel from Hammond but was not injured, police said.
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“It was very scary. He was going way too fast and just crashed into like four cars,” said rider Valerie Keller. “It was very scary and I don’t think I’ll take Megabus again but I’m glad I’m safe and nobody else on the bus got hurt.”
Another passenger, Casey Devlin, said he didn’t think the accident was, “anyone’s fault.”
“I think it was a stop-and-go traffic situation and the bus couldn’t stop in time and rear-ended somebody,” Devlin said. “Everyone was okay. There were a couple people that went to the hospital but everyone was okay, that was the main concern.”
The passengers were transferred to another bus and arrived in Chicago later Tuesday afternoon.
Passenger Vivian Nayiga told NBC Chicago she was sitting in the back of the bus when she witnessed the crash.
“We saw a white Prius and it just like flew, it looked like a movie, it was crazy,” Nayiga said.
Nayiga said the most frustrating part of the incident was how the bus company handled the situation in the hours following.
“Customer service was not that great or pleasant so I think Megabus needs to do the right thing by the passengers,” Nayiga said. “We waited for four hours [to be dispatched] before we could even leave, and we left at 11:15 a.m. this morning”
At one point, the backup from the crash was about three miles long, according to the Indiana Toll Road.
“Please be cautious and allow time for traffic to clear,” a tweet from the Toll Road stated.
Megabus confirmed the incident, and said it was working with local officials to gather details about what happened, spokesman Sean Hughes said.
"Safety is megabus.com's number one priority," Hughes said in a statement.
It is the second Megabus crash in Indiana this month.
On Dec. 20, a Megabus traveling from Chicago to Atlanta crashed on Interstate 65 and some injuries were reported.
