School bus that struck pedestrian, 5 cars in Boston recently passed inspection, officials say

BOSTON — A school bus that struck a pedestrian and crashed into five cars outside of a school in Boston on Thursday after the accelerator “broke” passed inspection just two weeks ago, officials said Friday.

In addition to passing the recent inspection, Boston Public Schools said the bus has passed all four of its inspections this year, despite Thursday’s mess outside the Henry Grew School at 40 Gordon Avenue in Hyde Park.

Officers responding to a report of a person struck outside the school just after 8:15 a.m. learned a school bus had struck several cars, as well as a pedestrian who was crossing the street, according to the Boston Police Department.

Michelle Legitte told reporters that it was her daughter-in-law who got hit by the bus after dropping her daughter off for school.

“I found out that my daughter-in-law got hit by the bus. The bus slammed into other cars. It was a mess out here this morning,” Legitte explained.

Legitte said that she was told the incident occurred after the “accelerator on the bus broke.”

“The accelerator on the bus broke and the bus driver couldn’t stop the bus,” Legitte said. “He had no choice but to turn the bus off to stop the bus. By the time he did that we had a mess out here. The cars were all piled up and damaged.”

Students who had been on the bus were just dropped off for class just before the crash occurred.

Video from the scene shared with Boston 25 News showed one person on the ground in the street and a black SUV resting on top of two other vehicles not far from where the bus came to a rest.

Naomi Ramirez’s surveillance camera caught the aftermath of the accident — including the injured woman lying in the street.

SUV left resting on top of other cars after crash involving school bus in Boston Credit: Naomi R

“I heard a big baboom, baboom,” she said. “Like it just happened all at once. It was such a loud noise that I thought a car hit the house.”

Mayor Michelle Wu is promising a full investigation.

“I’m very thankful that there were no children or students on the bus or involved here and everybody is safe and recovering,” Wu told Boston 25 News.

Boston police, Boston Emergency Services, and the school’s transportation road safety supervisor assisted in the emergency response.

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