A pedestrian who was involved in a mysterious accident with a Metro bus in Santa Cruz, California is reportedly in critical condition more than two weeks after the accident took place. The victim is 76 years old, and Santa Cruz police indicate that the man’s legs were crushed in the accident.
According to police, the accident took place at 1:40 in the afternoon just two days before Christmas. The elderly man was stabilized at a local hospital and then flown to a nearby trauma center for more extensive treatment.
“He’s in extremely critical condition so I think it’s day to day,” said Steve Clark, Deputy Chief of Police for the Santa Cruz Police Department. Much of the reason that the man’s injuries are so extensive is attributed to the fact that the bus came to a stop while still on top of the man. His legs were crushed, and there was traumatic damage done to connective tissue, joints and bones.
There is an ongoing investigation into exactly how the accident happened, with no immediate answers forthcoming and no decision about who was at fault coming anytime soon. Clark said, “We’ve done a number of calculations, including driving the route with a driver to determine what speed he could have possibly been going at the time.”
The injured man lives in Santa Cruz County. The driver involved in the incident is currently on paid leave while police and Metro continue to investigate the cause of the accident.
At this point, investigators have indicated that there was nothing wrong with the Metro bus mechanically and that it was not travelling at a high rate of speed. Clark said the vehicle could not have been moving any faster than 5 miles per hour, and that the man was struck well into the vehicle’s turn. Nobody seems to know what the man was doing in the intersection, or where in the intersection he was when he was struck. There are a couple of different theories, including that the elderly man was either crossing the street when he was struck or that while crossing he fell.
Police are seeking witnesses to the accident. There were no riders on the bus at the time.