WAVE Bus Passenger Files $500K Lawsuit For Injuries In 2023 Madaket Road Crash

A lawsuit has been filed by a passenger who was aboard the WAVE shuttle bus that crashed off Madaket Road in June of 2023 and is now seeking $557,703 for medical expenses, pain, and suffering in the aftermath of the accident.

The lawsuit, filed by Pelin Immel, names the Nantucket Regional Transportation Authority and Derrick Deon Ford, who was the driver, as defendants. Pelin said in the lawsuit that she has had to undergo “substantial medical treatment” since the accident, which has resulted in over $37,000 in medical expenses. According to the civil action sheet, Immel suffered a nondisplaced fracture in her left lower back, and she is seeking another $400,000 for out-of-pocket expenses, pain and suffering. 

Immel is alleging two counts of negligence, one count of common carrier liability, one count of vicarious liability, and one count of agency. Immel says that she will continue to suffer severe injuries, physical and emotional damages, pain and suffering and has been prevented from carrying on her usual activities of daily living.

The Current reached out to NRTA administrator Gary Roberts who declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. 

At the time of the incident, Immel told the Current she was the only person aboard the bus when it crashed.

"I was the only passenger and the driver seemed to be driving fast," Immel told the Current back in 2023. "We were almost at my stop in Madaket when he hit the stop barrier that keeps you from going in the pond. That was the scariest moment of my life. I thought we were going to die. All of a sudden the bus turned right and hit me. I was trying to hold myself as I was being knocked around by the bus, screaming the entire time.

"When we stopped, I said 'I’m ok, are you ok?' to the bus driver," she added. "He didn’t answer me and then I asked again he said 'yeah' and he said 'that curve I didn’t see that'."

Immel recalled shaking and crying as she was helped out of the bus before calling her husband, and eventually being transported by ambulance to the hospital.

The driver of the Wave bus walked away from the scene and did not need to be transported to the hospital.

The NRTA contracts with VTS of Massachusetts Inc. to operate the buses and hire its drivers.