Making It Through.

                  During the early evening commute through downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday 8/15/2012 a Lenzner coach lines tour bus driver attempted to go through a tunnel located under the Macy's building. The bus was stuck in the tunnel around two hours as police directed traffic on fifth avenue and a Lenznercrew worked on getting the bus out of the tunnel. People working for the City of Pittsburgh, Macy's building maintenance and from Lenzner were on scene to help get the bus out. The Lenzner crew had to take air out of the front tires to lower the front of the bus to be able to back the bus out of the tunnel. Talking to some people on the seen, a few of them told me that they do not think anyone else besides the driver was on the bus. The driver was not on the bus or at the scene at the time I arrived. There is a height bar posted in front of and above the entrance of the tunnel that clearly reads "10"6'", that would be ten feet six inches of clearance. There is around ten feet from the height bar to the top of the tunnel and the bus managed to still travel around ten to fifteen feet into the tunnel. With adding up the feet from the height bar to the end of the damage inside the tunnel the tour bus had to travel around twenty to twenty five feet from the height bar that would of hit the front of the bus. The road going through the tunnel is known as Cherry Way on Fifth Avenue across from William Penn Place and leading onto Forbes Avenue is now closed until repairs are made to the building.

               After several calls attempting to get a comment from Macy's I was first told by human resources that Macy's does not own the building and for me to call the City of Pittsburgh for comment. After reaching out to the City of Pittsburgh I found out that the building is privately owned and the owner is Macy's out of Cincinnati Ohio. Calling Macy's back, I was transferred to human resources again. They then transferred me to loss prevention after I informed them that they did own the building. That is where an unidentified woman told me that Macy's would only talk to the City of Pittsburgh and building maintenance. I was also told that the only one that would be able to answer any questions or give any comments was the building manager and in the same breathe, I was told that no one from Macy's was able to give any comments or answer any questions.

                   After calling the Lenzner Coach lines one time I was directed to email my request to the Location Safety Manager of Coach USA, Kent L. McGaughey. I requested a statement from the company and or to answer some questions. Kent L. McGaughey replied to my email with the following comments:

Mr. Martello:
At this time due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot comment on the incident you reference below.
About our company: Motorcoach and bus travel is one of the safest modes of transportation. We take the safety of our passengers seriously. Our fleet is kept in top operating condition with our stringent preventative maintenance program and network of maintenance facilities. Our local safety departments ensure that only the most qualified drivers are permitted behind the wheel. Drivers are required to complete extensive driver training courses and are subject to random drug and alcohol testing and periodic safety refresher classes. Many of our operators have even driven over a million accident-free miles!
-Kent

This does seem like an isolated incident with the Coach USA company and they are immediately looking into this matter. There is no word on the condition of the driver or how this accident happened in the first place. There is no information on, if the driver will face any criminal charges either. As soon as there is more details on this case I will follow up on it.

Written By J.L. Martello / 18ricco

Contact "Ricco" J.L. Martello / 18ricco

Cell: 412-583-6901

Email: martellogino@yahoo.com