Passengers escape after bus crashes into parked cars in Wellington CBD

Senior Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·

8 May, 2021 09:00 PM2 mins to read

At least one car was written off. Photo / Supplied

Passengers have escaped unscathed after a bus veered off to the side of the road and smashed into parked cars in central Wellington last night.

Emergency services were called to the scene at about 6.18pm near the intersection of Willis St and Vivian St.

A police spokeswoman confirmed the crash was between a bus and at least two cars.

No one was injured but there were reports of damage to the vehicles including the bus.

Signs were put up to advise motorists of possible debris on the road and the scene was cleared within a couple of hours, the spokeswoman said.

The owner of one of the damaged cars arrived on the scene just as his vehicle was about to be towed away.

"I was a bit shocked at first, but I'm just glad no one got hurt. The car will be replaced and it's not a big inconvenience for me", he told the Herald.

Hannah Norton was on the bus with a friend, making their way to a 20th birthday party, when the incident unfolded.

She said everything was normal until the bus started to veer off to the side of the road going down Willis St.

"Then you could hear crunching and scraping and then the front left windscreen just shattered."

The left-hand side of the bus windscreen was completely shattered. Photo / Hannah Norton

The bus driver was audibly distressed, Norton said.

She said the bus came to an abrupt stop and she was flung forward and hit her cheek.

One of the middle doors to exit the bus was shattered and wasn't opening, Norton said.

There was a moment when she and her friend wondered whether they might be stuck inside the bus, but eventually the driver got the door open.

After a brief chat to ambulance services the pair left the scene relatively unscathed, apart from a bit of swelling around Norton's cheek which she said was fine this morning.