A Toyota sedan hit a campus shuttle Wednesday afternoon in front of the Student Center South as it attempted to pass in the left lane. | Nguyen Le/The Cougar
Shortly after noon on Wednesday, a Cougar Line shuttle and a student’s sedan collided on University Drive, resulting in a large dent on both right hand doors.
“(It was) an accident. An unfortunate accident,” said the shuttle’s driver, Clatt Harris. “The driver tried to get around me and ran into the bus.”
According to the Texas Transportation Code 545.066, drivers cannot pass a school bus while it is stopped or has visual signal to stop. It is unclear whether this law applies to public university shuttles.
“I turned, going straight, and then a bus hit me, and that was it,” said the car’s driver, finance senior Laleen Bajwa. “I was in front of him, he was trying to get into my lane and I was already there.”
Wednesday’s shuttle accident was the second in one week. On Tuesday, a Cougar Line shuttle collided with another car in a similar accident on University Park.
“I just remember that we were about to leave PGH, and then I think a car came up from the side to try to go around, because the bus was stopped,” chemical engineering sophomore Sheida Carugati said about Tuesday’s accident. “The bus didn’t see them on the blind side and ran into the person. It wasn’t as bad as this one. They basically just tapped the car.”
University of Houston Police Department officers responding to Wedneday’s accident declined to comment.
The Daily Cougar … with Breaking News. LOL.
Let’s look at the common denominator in both of these accidents: female drivers.