Female Metro Bus Driver from Laurel Found Pinned by Own Bus Dies at Hospital

A Metro bus driver apparently trying to stop her bus from moving after she had disembarked became pinned between the bus and a retaining wall at White Oak Shopping Center, Montgomery County police say. She later died at a hospital.

Officers discovered the driver pinned between a concrete wall and a 2011 Newfoundland XDE Metrobus about 3:30 p.m. Monday, police said in a press release.

The bus had apparently begun to move after the driver had exited the bus.  The driver attempted to engage the brake by reaching through the driver’s window before being struck by the bus and pinned against the wall, police said. There were no passengers on the bus.

The driver was identified as Thomasine Maria Smith, 47, of the 13000 block of Old Stage Road, in Laurel.  Smith was transported to a local trauma center where she died, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 240-773-6620.