Cops: Driver using own GPS device just before double-decker bus slammed into bridge, killing 4

Cops: Driver using own GPS when bus hit NY bridge

SALINA, N.Y. — Authorities say the driver of a double-decker bus may have been distracted by his own GPS when he drove the vehicle into a railroad bridge in central New York, killing four passengers.

Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh says 59-year-old John Tomaszewski (tom-uh-ZOO’-ski) was using his personal GPS receiver when the Megabus hit the bridge early Saturday. The bus was equipped with a GPS system that transmitted its location, but could not be used for navigation.

Walsh says investigators are trying to determine whether Tomaszewki was holding the device or listening to it at the time of the crash.

Police say the bus was too tall to clear the bridge’s low-hanging span.

Officials say Tomaszewki hit the bridge after making a wrong turn off Interstate 81. He has been released from the hospital.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

SALINA, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say the driver of a double-decker bus was distracted by his own GPS when he drove the vehicle into a railroad bridge in central New York, killing four passengers.

Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh tells the Post-Standard of Syracuse and WSTM-TV that 59-year-old John Tomaszewski (tom-uh-ZOO’-ski) was using his personal GPS device and not the system installed on Megabus when it hit the bridge early Saturday.

Walsh says investigators are trying to determine whether Tomaszewki was holding the device or listening to it at the time of the crash.

Police say the bus was too tall to clear the bridge’s low-hanging span.

Officials say Tomaszewki hit the bridge after making a wrong turn off Interstate 81. He has been released from the hospital.