Police: Brake system failure may have caused fatal wreck involving a CATS bus

A brake system failure appears to have caused Monday’s fatal wreck involving a pickup truck, a CATS bus and a car at the bottom of the ramp from John Belk Freeway at East Third Street in Charlotte, police said.

Charlotte preschool teacher Melanie Myers died in the wreck, Observer news partner WBTV reported.

Myers, a teacher at First Baptist Church, was driving a 1987 Ford F150 pickup whose brakes apparently failed, police said. The pickup swerved around stopped vehicles on the ramp before the wreck with the Charlotte Area Transit Service bus, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Detective Andrew Oberer said.

The bus was headed east on East Third with 19 passengers aboard and struck the driver’s side of the pickup, Oberer said. The pickup’s driver was taken to Carolinas Medical Center with critical injuries and pronounced dead a half-hour later.

Thirteen of the CATS bus passengers were taken to Carolinas Medical Center with minor injuries.

A passenger in the pickup, Gloria McMenamy-Moreno, 59, had minor injuries. She and Myers were wearing seat belts, Oberer said.

CATS bus driver Priscilla Chisolm, 58, had minor injuries and was taken to Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center.

Lynda McMillan Folz, 47, the driver of a 2013 Lexus IS250 also involved in the wreck, was uninjured. She and Chisolm were wearing seat belts.

The wreck happened shortly before 5 p.m. Traffic on the ramp was stopped for a red light when the pickup swerved left around stopped vehicles and into the intersection, Oberer said.

The collision caused the CATS bus to veer left and collide with the Lexus.

The investigation lasted through rush hour, with police closing off parts of Third Street and nearby ramps to Interstate 277.

The death was the second one involving a CATS bus in less than a week.

Charles Adkins, 74, died Sunday after his bicycle was struck last Wednesday morning by a bus on Statesville Road. Investigators said he turned into the path of the city bus. The bus driver unsuccessfully swerved to avoid Adkins, police said.

Police said alcohol does not appear to have factored into Monday’s wreck.

Bus drivers are tested for drugs and alcohol after every crash, said CATS spokeswoman Krystel Green, but the results from the drivers involved in the two deadly crashes were not available Monday. Both drivers will be on paid leave until the CMPD investigations are completed.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Police: Brake system failure may have caused fatal wreck involving a CATS bus."