ECU bus smashes passenger vehicle

An ECU transit bus collided with a passenger vehicle Monday morning near the intersection of 10th and Fifth Streets, leaving several students without transportation back to their apartment complex and one with complaints of neck pain.

Bus 31, on the 507 route servicing Copper Beech, was full of students when it collided with a Toyota sedan driven by Frances Murphy, 69, as she pulled into traffic from the State Farm Insurance parking lot.

Junior Stephanie Rogers said as the bus she was on passed the accident, she saw the entire front side of Murphy's car smashed.

Rogers's friend, senior Alex Cowan, was on Bus 31 when he says he was jolted as the driver applied the brakes and the Toyota pulled out in front of them.

"That's when everyone realized something was about to happen," he said. "Then we heard a big crash sound and we hit them (Murphy) with the front right side of the bus."

Murphy said she didn't see the bus coming when she pulled out, but when she noticed she tried to pull over to the side.

"I was already in front of the bus when I saw it and tried to pull over," she said at the scene. "I guess I didn't see the thing coming and I rolled out in front of it."

The bus hit the driver's side of the Murphy's vehicle and pushed the car onto the curb.

"There were people standing up," Cowan said. "When she hit the brakes a bunch of people flew forward."

No students reported injuries at the scene, but an ECU Transit official said a student called later to report neck pain and was directed to Student Health Services. Murphy was not injured.

Students called friends for rides or may have walked back to Copper Beech because there was no clear direction on what to do next.

"Then they left us to kind of fend for ourselves to get a ride back after that," Cowan said. He called his roommate to pick him up.

Transit Operations Manager Seth Rodman said all of the students are usually told to stay put so police officers can get their contact information and wait for other transportation arrangements to arrive.

"We had another bus on the way," he said. "There was some confusion between them. I hate that they walked, but I think 10 or so still got picked up where the accident was."

The police officer on the scene said he issued Murphy a citation, but declined to say what she was charged with. The ECU driver was not cited.

"I wasn't there when she got the ticket," Rodman said. "If I had to guess, it would probably be failure to yield."

The Greenville Police Department said the official report would be available in 24 to 48 hours.

Earlier this year, the ECU Transit system had two accidents involving buses within days of each other.

Leon Smallwood, 54, was killed after a university bus ran him over on 10th Street. Less than a week before, a cherry picker collided with the side of a university bus, shattering its windows near Christenbury Gym.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.