MARTA bus driver falls asleep, then crashes bus, slams into utlity pole splitting it in half

ATLANTA — A MARTA bus driver is now off the job after officials said she fell asleep behind the wheel of the bus and slammed into a utility pole.

The crash happened on July 11 along Collier Drive at Valley Heart Drive in northwest Atlanta.

“I was like oh no, it’s a bus!” Keyonda Goosby told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Thursday.

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Goosby said she heard the accident and found the bus at the base of her driveway.

“I heard like a big crash,” Goosby explained.

Witnesses told Channel 2 Action News the crash caused the utility pole to split in half.

The downed utility pole knocked out power to several homes in the area.

“As soon as you heard the crash the power was out,” said Goosby.

Goosby said she and her neighbors rushed to the bus to try to help the driver.

“She was still not conscious when we came up to the bus. We had to call her name several times for her to regain consciousness,” Goosby explained.

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In a statement, MARTA officials confirmed that the bus driver fell asleep and that the crash caused significant electrical damage to at least one home.

The statement went on to read:

“MARTA takes full responsibility for the accident…There were no passengers on the bus at the time of the accident. The bus operator’s employment has been terminated.”

Goosby said it took hours for her power to be restored.

She told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington she is thankful no one was hurt.

“It could have been very detrimental,” Goosby said.

No word on what caused the driver to fall asleep.

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