A woman driving a stolen SUV was killed Wednesday morning after deputies say she slammed into the back of a King County Metro bus in south King County, Washington.
The crash happened around 7 a.m. Sept. 16 near South 277th Street and 83rd Avenue South, between Kent and Auburn. KOMO News reported that the Hyundai SUV rear-ended the bus while traveling at high speed.
The SUV driver died at the scene. Three passengers aboard the Metro bus were taken to a hospital with injuries described as minor or non-life-threatening, while the bus driver was not physically injured.
What put the SUV on that road at such a high speed remains under investigation. Deputies have ruled out one obvious explanation for the scene: they said no police pursuit was underway before the crash.
No Chase
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The King County Sheriff’s Office said the stolen SUV was traveling more than 80 mph when it hit the rear of the bus, according to KIRO 7.
“There was no involved pursuit of the vehicle,” Sgt. James Ryan told the station. He said deputies did not yet know why the SUV was traveling at such a high rate of speed.
Ryan separately described the SUV’s speed as “much, much higher than the posted speed” in an interview reported by MyNorthwest. Investigators were also looking into the driver’s history and the theft of the SUV.
After The Impact
Greg Woodfill, president of the union representing Metro bus drivers, told KIRO 7 that the bus driver was shaken up but physically okay.
Woodfill said a driver involved in a crash still has to undergo drug testing even when the driver is not at fault, then wait for the results before returning to work. He said that process can take two or three days.
The King County Sheriff’s Office Major Accident Response Team took over the investigation. No further information about the SUV driver had been released as the team continued working to determine what caused the crash.