Bus driver involved in UC Santa Cruz crash has died
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV)- UPDATE ON DECEMBER 31, 2023 AT 10:54 AM- A UC Santa Cruz official confirmed to KION that the bus driver involved in a Dec. 12 crash has died from his injuries.
The university and a union representing Santa Cruz Metro employees confirmed that Dan Stevenson passed away from his injuries sustained in the crash on Dec. 28.
According to UC Santa Cruz, Stevenson had worked for more than 25 years as a driver for Santa Cruz Metro and as a campus transit driver for the university.
The crash happened on December 12 when the bus slammed into a stone wall on Coolidge Drive and High Street. The crash damaged the front end of the bus and injured six people including Stevenson.
UC Santa Cruz Police is still investigating the cause of the crash.
UCSC students voice concern over old buses after campus crash
UPDATE ON DEC. 14, 2023 AT 5:30 PM- Students at UC Santa Cruz are voicing growing concern about aging buses on campus after an accident which injured six earlier this week.
Two people were seriously hurt.
Olivia Lawyer is a second year student who takes the bus regularly to get around campus.
Video of a UCSC bus crash on campus left her nervous about riding on UCSC buses in the future.
"So that was concerning and it's definitely scary. It makes me want to take the bus less. It's just not as safe," said Lawyer
Students say the rides they have been on, haven't always been smooth and say the university should spend more to make sure they're safe.
"You can see the age (of the bus) when you write them. And the sound sometimes like the braking can sound kind of scary," said Lawyer.
According to UC Santa Cruz, some of the older buses were made in the early 90s, which are the 35 foot buses, are still actively running.
The bus involved in this week's crash was also an older one.
"The buses are inspected daily before they go into service. So those those inspections happen, you know, each day to make sure that the busses are roadworthy before we are putting them into their their routes," said Scott Hernandez-Jason, Assistant Vice Chancellor of the Communications for the University.
The university says when parts break down, finding replacement parts is difficult. This is because the manufacturer stopped making parts for these model buses.
According to Advanced Energy United, the average life span for a bus is 12 to 15 years.
"I definitely think it's weird to think that they're, like, I don't know, expired," said Nathan Robbins, a student at UCSC.
The university says the cause of the bus crash is still under investigation, so it is still unknown whether its a driver or mechanical error.
However students say upgrading the busses should be a priority.
"It makes me feel uneasy, you know, just like riding them. I'm never sure, could something happen to me or like my friends that are on the bus?" said Lawyer.
UCSC says they are in the process of getting two electric busses and they will be getting four additional busses they are expecting to recieve in the winter quarter.
In just one month of the academic year at UCSC, there were over 160,000 rides.
Original Story
A University of California, Santa Cruz bus crashed into a rock wall on Tuesday night. Five students and the bus driver were injured and taken to a local hospital.
Multiple people were being treated off Coolidge Drive near High Street.
The university said two people were taken to the hospital with critical injuries and four people are receiving care for moderate to minor injuries.
A father of one of the students says his son suffered a head injury in the crash.
"I'm concerned about his long term well-being. And if this guy's going to change. In a bad way," said Ken, a parent of a student injured.
Ken tells KION his son is 21 years old and was studying late for a final he had to take the next day.
"He doesn't remember even being on the bus or anything about the accident or coming into the hospital," Ken said. "He told me the first thing he remembers is his friend being here at 3 A.M. And when he woke up,"
Scott Hernandez-Jason, who is the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Communications and Marketing for UC Santa Cruz says they are focusing on the community.
"We're not sure about the structural stability of that section. We're really fully focused on our campus community right now, and I can't really say more about the plans for that site," said Hernandez-Jason.
The bus now sits behind the UCSC Police Department. UCSC says they're still investigating what led up to the crash.
Parents like Ken, want answers.
"I'm concerned about the maintenance upkeep of the busses and if it was driver error, mechanical error, it seemed to be a solo accident," said Ken.
