Investigation into bus crash ongoing
Investigators KETTERING — continued work Tuesday to determine what caused a bus driver to crash in a weekend accident that killed himself and injured two passengers.
The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority bus driver, identified as Neal Booher, 42, of Dayton, was pronounced dead at Kettering Medical Center on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office confirmed that an autopsy was performed Sunday, but did not release a preliminary cause of death. An official in the office said the results are pending and said it could take several weeks before the results are known.
RTA officials said the investigation is ongoing and offered few details, except that Booher didn’t make any phone calls to RTA dispatch indicating that there was any sort of emergency.
Officials said they were not releasing any statement regarding the incident and that any on-board camera footage has been turned over to Kettering police to help with the investigation.
What is known is that Booher veered off the road. Two passengers in the bus were transported to the hospital, and the extent of their injuries is not known. Others were treated and released for minor injuries.
A visitation for Booher will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday at the Newcomer South Chapel, 3940 Kettering Blvd.
Booher was remembered by his family as a devoted husband and father who was a dedicated bus driver for 8 years with RTA and an avid Green Bay Packers fan. Survivors include his wife Leslie and children, Caleb and Annalyse Booher, and his older children William Hubbs and Morgan Tabor.
Kettering police Lt. Lee Sanders said the RTA bus veered off the roadway and smashed into two vehicles parked in a driveway on Forrer Boulevard near Pittsfield Street.
The crash shut down Forrer Boulevard between Hazel and Culver avenues.
A pickup truck parked in a driveway was smashed between the RTA bus and a large tree in the front yard of a house on Forrer Boulevard near Pittsfield Street.
The bus did not hit the house, whose owners were away at the time of the crash.
In May, a car pulled out in front of an RTA bus, causing a two-vehicle crash on East Third Street near North Philadelphia Street.
There were six passengers plus the driver aboard the RTA bus, but no one was hurt, police said.
In March, a car ran a red light and hit an RTA bus forcing the bus to flip over. The car caught fire and three people in the car died. The driver and passengers on the bus were not seriously injured.
Since 2013, the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority has paid more than $1.2 million out-ofpocket for accident, injury and property damage claims filed by bus riders, motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, property owners and others, according to agency documents.