7 News Belize

The Other Way Of Stopping
posted (May 12, 2010)
Today was a lucky day for more than 40 commuters who escaped what could have been a major accident. This morning at around 9:30, the driver of a National Transport bus headed to Benque Viejo del Carmen, was turning unto the roundabout at the entrance to Hattieville village, when he lost control and ran off the highway. The bus ended up on its side in a ditch. All 44 startled passengers were able to walk off with little or no injury. Driver of the bus, Ernesto Garcia told us faulty brakes caused the accident.

Ernesto Garcia, Driver of the bus
"I left Belize well and I stop down the road coming down. I had just left a lady about a mile from here. The brake was working fine. But when I was approaching the round-about here I applied brake and try to make the curve, but when I applied brake there was no brake. I told my conductor that there is no brakes. I just hold on. Everybody heard when I said that there was no brakes, so everybody just held on. I tried my very best to take the curve but I couldn't make it. If I had taken the curve too fast the bus would have turned over. I just tried my best to bring it to this side."

Jim McFadzean Reporting
"How many passengers were you carrying and did anybody get injured?"

Ernesto Garcia
"Everybody was seated. My bus holds about 44 passengers seated. The passengers did not complain and they said that I was a good driver because nobody lost their life and nobody got injured. Everybody was seated and nobody got hurt, no scratch or anything."

Passengers of the disabled bus were quickly loaded onto another National Transport bus to complete their journey.

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