DETROIT – We’ve learned much more about the DDOT bus driver who was badly injured in a wrong-way crash that left a pickup driver dead on the Lodge Freeway.
Robert Glenn has two shattered legs. His eyes are swollen shut. His ribs are crushed.
His sister has flown in from Denver. His daughter is also by his side. His fiancé has never left his side since early Saturday morning inside Henry Ford Hospital.
Yet, Robert Glenn, 57 is alive. He is expected to survive.
Glenn is a driver for DDOT. He is a professional driver -- the Army veteran drove big rigs for the last several decades and is now driving with DDOT to stay closer to home.
Glenn was driving his bus early Saturday morning, Dec. 7, 2024, in the southbound lanes of The Lodge Freeway.
He was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver in an F-150 pickup truck, and the collision sent him through the windshield of the bus. His body forced the steering column out of the bus.
The driver of the F-150 was killed.
Glenn had finished his shift and was returning to the DDOT yard at the time of the crash.
His family said Glenn told them that it was dark on the road and then the headlights appeared, as if the pickup driver had just turned them on before the crash.
Michigan State Police continue to investigate.
The Michigan Department of Transportation said there is a wrong-way driver in Metro Detroit every day.
Dianne Cross, of MDOT, said 911 calls routed to MSP go through its traffic center downtown, and MDOT keeps a list of wrong-way drivers.
Some wrong-way driver reports are false, some are legitimate. Some drivers quickly correct themselves, while others go the wrong way to get into position to help someone with a flat tire.
Just 10% of wrong-way drivers are caught.
Which highways see the most wrong way drivers? All of them, Cross said.
Traffic volume in the metro is heavy on I-696, I-94, I-75, and M-10. Drivers have to drive defensively and pull over when a car is headed at them in the wrong direction.
We asked if drivers leaving downtown casinos are an issue and whether ramps in the area of MGM can be confusing.
First, Cross said drivers are responsible for themselves and should not drive impaired, sleepy, or with any condition that would confuse them in the dark.
MDOT is looking at the area and many others to improve signage.