A UPS delivery truck driver was cited for causing an accident that injured 14 passengers of a Coach USA bus on the Boulder Turnpike Friday, authorities say.
Jeremy Daniel Wade, 25, received citations for following too closely behind another car and going too fast for conditions, said Tim Read, spokesman for the Westminster Police Department.
Wade’s first court appearance is scheduled for March 16th in Westminster Municipal Court.
Wade was driving westbound in the left lane of Highway 36 just past 80th Avenue when traffic slowed and his UPS truck fishtailed, sideswiping the center concrete median. The highway was wet but not icy.
The UPS truck drifted to the center lane, striking a white box truck near the rear axle. The Coach USA bus hit the UPS truck from behind. The UPS truck bounced back to the left and smashed through the concrete median, Read said.
The UPS truck then rotated counterclockwise and momentum carried the truck across all lanes of traffic and stopped on the shoulder after striking a red 1999 Ford Escort, he said.
The Coach USA bus driver, attempting to avoid a broadside collision with the UPS truck, drove off the right shoulder onto the embankment. The bus rolled onto the driver’s side, Read said.
Bus passengers climbed through the top escape hatches and the front window of the bus. Ten ambulances took the patients to four hospitals. All had minor injuries and have since been released from the hospital, Read said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
