Greyhound crash, 5 killed
因為當完兵有出國唸書的打算，最近開始養成看英文報紙的習慣，無意間看到這則小小的新聞。
看到圖片中被撞得稀爛的灰狗巴士(Greyhound)，突然想起自己一年半前在美國搭灰狗的經驗。
當時在Ohio State Univ.當見習醫師的我，一心想利用週末北上Cleveland看一場NBA game，本來想跟同學一起租車過去，結果剛好大家都有事，只有一個人租車相當不划算，於是，儘管灰狗巴士惡名昭彰（大概跟台灣的統聯甚至野雞車差不多），還是硬著頭皮搭了。
其實灰狗在Columbus的站還算蠻乾淨的，裡頭有一個deli，一個小小的電動玩具area，我記得我是搭差不多中午左右的車，預計傍晚左右到，好趕得上七點的比賽---Cavaliers vs. Bucks。
時間差不多了，我也跟著一些人排著隊等著上車，這裡頭黑人是多數，還看到一些Amish（戴著帽子留著長長的山羊鬍，女人也是一副兩百年前的打扮，Ohio鄉間還不少這種人），好在還有一些可愛的小朋友，不然在一群那樣的人旁邊，還真是讓人覺得有點害怕。
該上車的時間過去了，「奇怪，車子怎麼沒有來？ 」，又過了一會兒，才看到一個穿著像是Staff的人拿個擴音器出來，講了一大串英文，我沒有聽得很懂意思，只聽到什麼「gunshot」之類的，沒有聽到車子什麼時候才會來，我想，反正再等一會，其他人好像也都不急，大概是週末吧！很多人像是一整個family要回老家似的，也不太趕時間似的。
就這樣，時間一直過去，已經到兩點了，我算了一下，這樣開四個小時，到Cleveland已經六點了，不知道會不會錯過比賽，我們這一車的人，已經有不少已經聽從Staff的指示趕搭別班車，可是那都沒有到Cleveland，於是，我只好繼續等。
等阿等，好不容易我終於問了一下隔壁一位看起來「比較正常」的老太太，到底發生了什麼事？這時我才比較瞭解，是因為本來預計要到的那台巴士，在路上碰上了槍擊案，所以被警察扣押，因為要保留證物之類的，所以只能等。我還記得那老太太輕鬆地聳聳肩張大眼睛，"So, we can just wait here." ，我想，我大概是還剩下的人裡頭最趕時間的吧！
我不禁把眼睛瞄向旁邊停在一旁的空巴士，「怎麼沒有一個人願意多發一班車呢？」難道就一定那麼死腦筋，要等到下一個班次（六點發車，我絕對來不及）？好在，就在接近三點的時候，那班巴士終於到了…遲到了整整三個小時。
儘管如此，居然沒有人生氣，倒是這段時間，有兩個黑人媽媽還一面很溫馨地問候她們似乎本來就認識的司機，一面很「里長伯」地安慰其他乘客「恭喜大家，我們的巴士終於來了…」
等我到了Cleveland，已經七點了，我只好多花20塊美金左右搭了計程車趕到Gund arena，還好，經過一番折騰，我只耽誤了5分鐘左右，還來得及享受這一場我這輩子第一次的NBA live。
這是我第一次搭灰狗，也很有可能會是我的最後一次。
Nineteen people remained hospitalized Tuesday after a Greyhound bus tumbled off an Adirondacks highway after apparently blowing a tire, officials said. The bus driver and four passengers were killed.
Dazed passengers said they remembered a loud sound from the tires and then a cartwheeling motion as the bus flipped and landed on its roof Monday evening.
"The driver tried to keep us on the street," said Christian Yopa, 28, of Germany, who was going to visit his mother in Montreal. "But a few seconds later, boom, it was too late. I thought of death for the first time. The bus turned two or three times."
Several of the 53 passengers were thrown out of the bus, which had a seat belt only for the driver. The passengers sustained injuries that included cuts and broken bones.
One person was in critical condition Tuesday, and at least five others were in serious condition, hospital officials said.
"I'm frankly amazed more people were not more seriously injured," said Mike Hildebran, spokesman for Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, which treated 37 passengers and admitted seven as patients.
State Police Major Richard C. Smith Jr. said a witness indicated that a front tire appeared to have blown, causing the crash.
The bus had left New York shortly after noon Monday headed for Montreal. It crashed about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Albany.
The crash killed the driver, Ronald Burgess, 52, of Central Islip, New York; 81-year-old Antonide Dorce of Hempstead, New York; and three Canadians: Souleymane Tambadou, 16; Doreen George, 69; and Hamidou Barry, 34, all of Montreal, authorities said.
Greyhound spokeswoman Anna Folmnsbee said the bus had just passed its annual federal inspection last week.
Burgess had driven for Greyhound since 1999 and, like all Greyhound drivers, completed a seven-week training course that included driving in adverse and crisis conditions, said Folmnsbee. She declined to release specifics about Burgess' driving record, citing confidentiality rules.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said the agency was sending a team of two investigators. The Federal Motor Carrier Agency also was notified about the accident and expected to investigate, officials said.
