A near tragedy was averted recently when Coast Guard Academy cadets traveling by bus noticed that the bus driver was driving erratically and jumped into action. The incident occurred in the very early morning hours, just after midnight. The bus began swerving back and forth across the lanes of Interstate 95 in Connecticut and several cadets noticed that the driver was not fully conscious.
21-year old Coast Guard Academy cadet Ben Lesniak of Butler, Pennsylvania was the first to act. He leapt from his seat and took the wheel while several of his teammates physically removed the driver from his seat. The bus was going 70 miles per hour at the time. Lesniak was able to bring the bus under control and pulled over onto the left lane, where other cadets waved traffic around it until help could arrive.
The cadets are credited with preventing a deadly accident. There were twenty of them on board the bus at the time, returning back to the academy following a hockey game between the academy’s club hockey team and the Merchant Marine Academy team in Kings Point, New York.
According to Lesniak, things had been pretty peaceful onboard the bus and he had been listening to music in his seat near the driver when he took note that one of his teammates was asking the driver whether he was alright. He jumped up and helped take over as one of his teammates removed the driver’s hands from the wheel. Matters were complicated by the fact that the driver’s foot was still on the accelerator.
The rescue was a true team effort, with 21-year old Cadet Alex Mead of Morristown, New Jersey and many others assisting. The cadets indicated that it took several minutes to bring the bus to a complete stop, with one needing to disengage the cruise control and another searching for the emergency brake. Uncertain as to the location of controls at one point the bus door was inadvertently opened and cadets had to hold on to one another to prevent anybody from falling out.
While many of the cadets took control of the driving, still others attempted to attend to the needs of the driver. There is no information as to the bus driver’s current condition. The cadets will be honored at an awards ceremony at the academy in New London.