By David Paulsen
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE — A charter bus crash late Saturday on I-94 in Kenosha County injured nearly a dozen people after the driver collapsed.
Thanks to the quick reaction of a passenger, Jill E. Bein, 48, of Norridge, Ill., the bus was pulled over on the side of the highway, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department.
The Chicago-bound bus was heading south about 60 mph on I-94 through the Village of Bristol around 11:30 p.m. when the driver, James E. Rogers, had an unspecified medical emergency, the department said.
Rogers, 68, of Chicago, collapsed, and the bus drifted into the concrete wall on the right shoulder of the interstate, hitting it two or three times.
When Bein realized the driver had fallen out of his seat, she jumped into the seat and gained control of the bus, bringing it to a stop. She suffered minor injuries in the crash. No other vehicles were involved, the Sheriff’s Department reported.
Kenosha County deputies, the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Bristol and Pleasant Prairie fire departments responded to the scene, but the interstate was not shut down because of the crash.
The bus sustained minor damage to its side, and Rogers was taken to Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha for treatment. Of the 34 adult passengers on the bus, 11 were injured and taken to three hospitals in the Kenosha area for treatment of nonfatal injuries.
Rogers has cooperated with the investigation and was not ticketed by authorities, who don’t suspect alcohol or speed were factors in the crash.
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©2015 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel