A Greyhound bus carrying 42 passengers tipped over on an Indiana interstate on Tuesday, the AP reports, leaving more than 2 dozen injured. The Indiana State Police say that Darren P. Duke, age 46, likely fell asleep at the wheel while driving on I-65, 15 miles south of Gary. Details, inside…

The article says,

Duke, who was not injured, told investigators that he began his day in Indianapolis about 2:30 a.m. Eastern time, drove to Chicago and was on a return trip when the crash happened.

Witness Douglas Judy of DeMotte said he was driving north on the interstate when the bus crashed in front of him.

“The bus drifted right into the gravel and then fishtailed and overcorrected and then it hit the (center) wall,” Judy told The Times of Munster. “It was going at such a high speed it was airborne. I thought it was coming over the wall at me.”

Passenger Tara Robinson, 18, of Hobart said she was talking on the phone with a friend when the bus started swerving.

“All of a sudden I heard screaming. I looked up and the bus was out of control. Then all of a sudden we flipped. It was crazy,” she said.

Robinson and another passenger, Deborah Booth, 50, of Chicago, said passengers helped each other get out of the bus before emergency personnel arrived.

“Everybody just came together and helped one another,” Booth said.

The bus ended up on its right side, with its wheels against the concrete barriers in the highway’s median. The crash caused police to close all southbound lanes of the interstate for several hours, with northbound lanes remaining open.

Greyhound spokesman Dustin Clark said Duke has driven for the line for about 18 years, had a good driving record and did not exceed his federal limit of 10 hours behind the wheel within a 15-hour workday.

It will be interesting in the coming days to see if there were any drugs involved or a medical condition (besides being really tired) to blame for the driver taking a snooze while driving. We hope that Greyhound takes this opportunity to make sure that all their drivers are fit to be behind the wheel.

Dozens hurt when Greyhound bus tips over in Ind. [AP]
(Photo: M3rcury)

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