Faribault, MN (July 27, 2026) — One person was injured on Saturday evening in a wreck on southbound Interstate 35 near mile marker 58 in Faribault, Rice County, when a 2015 MCI coach bus and a 2016 Honda Accord, both traveling south, came together, investigators said.
The bus was carrying 31 passengers at the time; none of them were injured. The bus driver, William Fredrick Walton, 46, of Davenport, Iowa, was also not injured.
Abdullahi Ali Abdi, 42, of Owatonna, was driving the Honda Accord. He was taken to Allina Health Faribault with non-life-threatening injuries and was wearing a seatbelt.
The Honda’s airbags deployed, while the bus’s did not, investigators said. The road was dry at the time, and alcohol was not suspected as a factor for either driver. The exact cause of the accident remained under review as this report was filed.
We’re glad to hear the injury was not life-threatening, and we wish Abdi a full recovery.
Why Buses Don’t Have Airbags Like Cars Do?
Large buses are generally built around a safety concept called compartmentalization rather than airbags. Seats are designed with high, padded backs positioned close together, so a passenger who’s thrown forward during a sudden stop is caught by the seat ahead before traveling very far, spreading out the force of that motion.
Weight also plays a major role in how a bus fares in a hit involving a much smaller vehicle. A loaded coach bus can weigh tens of thousands of pounds more than a passenger car, which means far more of the energy from a hit tends to be absorbed by the lighter vehicle rather than the bus itself.
None of this means seatbelts don’t matter on a bus that has them, since compartmentalization works best when passengers stay in their seats rather than being thrown into the aisle. It’s also worth noting that this design mainly helps in a forward-facing hit, and buses can still be vulnerable in rollovers or side hits where the same protections don’t apply as well.
