ENGLEWOOD, New Jersey — A NJ Transit bus crashed into a house in Englewood early Thursday morning, leaving the driver injured and raising concerns about the structural integrity of the home.
The crash happened just before 5:45 a.m. on Rockwood Place.
The 166 bus was on its way to its first stop of the morning near Grand Avenue when it rolled through a front yard, destroyed new landscaping and struck a vehicle in a driveway. The bus also damaged a section of a neighboring house and another vehicle in that driveway.
According to NJ Transit, the bus was operating on the 166 line and had just left its garage in Oradell. It was heading to begin its scheduled route when the crash occurred.
No passengers were on board at the time of the collision.
Witness Karina Martinez said she and her husband were already awake around 5:30 a.m. when they heard the crash.
“So we were up already. It was like 5:30 in the morning. We heard a loud, like, like a thud. And we usually think it’s, you know, the trucks passing by. We’re right off of the highway. But then it continued. So we’re like, OK, something’s going on. My husband looked at the window. He’s like, ‘Oh no, my car,'” Martinez said.
Her husband’s Jeep and the landscaping at their home were damaged in the crash. Martinez said they had moved into the house just a few months ago.
She said video from their Ring camera appeared to show the bus driver slumped over.
“So people come and go, and someone could have been there. We don’t know. And then the bus driver, from what we saw from our Ring camera, he was slumped over a little. So I think maybe a medical condition, hopefully nothing serious,” Martinez said.
Emergency crews arrived within minutes and removed the driver on a stretcher before taking him to a hospital.
“Obviously, the first thing I thought about was everyone’s safety out here, but then I’m like, I thank God our house. I’m pregnant. Brand new house, brand new landscaping. But everyone’s safe, which is good,” Martinez said.
The bus driver was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.
Emergency crews, including Englewood officials, the city’s buildings department and PSE&G, responded to the scene. Authorities said the home’s structural integrity appeared to be compromised.
Local police are leading the investigation into what caused the crash.
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