Turning warnings on buses meant to save lives

November 20, 2017, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Public transit is considered a safe and efficient way to transport people but they do have some inherent safety problems. One of them is for the driver of the bus – the sizes of the blind spots are considerable. About one pedestrian is killed every week in North America because the driver cannot see them from behind the wheel.

Bus manufacturers have responded with alerting systems that warn pedestrians of turning buses.  The performance of the busses which were tested in the GTA earlier this year is still being evaluated. Cleveland Ohio uses an alert system called Safe Turn Alert on all of its buses, articulated buses, and trolleys in an attempt to reduce the number of collisions that its drivers were having while making turns.  It appears to be working as they reported far fewer accidents in the seven years they used it as compared to the 4-year period before. This has also saved time and money which would have been lost due to accidents, the compensation, and payouts.

Transit unions say that this is a not the solution that should be invested in. They argue the culprit in the accidents is the design of the busses themselves, and point to European buses that have eliminated the left side mirror and pillar, and the vertical frames around the windshields. Transit unions also argue that the warning systems amount to a speaker that tells pedestrians to ‘hurry up and run’ the bus is coming.

There have been a few high-profile bus/pedestrian collisions in Waterloo Region in the last several years including one in which a high school student was killed in a round-a-bout. Most recently a driver was charged with Careless Driving in March when a woman was struck near Westmount and Block Line in poor weather conditions.

As a pedestrian you should always be paying attention to the movement of vehicles when you are crossing the street. Make eye contact with drivers and be ready to move out of the way if you suspect that a driver doesn’t see you. Any collision involving a pedestrian will result in the pedestrian being injured regardless of whose fault the collision is.

Source: http://www.protrantechnology.com/bus-safety/safe-turn-alert

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

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