While skimming Oregonlive.com Tuesday morning, we came across the article, “Left-turn bus accidents, like fatal one in downtown Portland, alarmingly common among transit agencies.” Here is an excerpt from that article by Joseph Rose:
“TriMet is no stranger to left-turn bus accidents such as the one that killed two pedestrians and injured three others in a downtown Portland crosswalk on the night of April 24.
In fact, earlier this week, Oregon's largest transit agency agreed to pay a record $1.5 million to a woman who lost a leg after it was crushed by a bus turning left into a crosswalk in January 2008.
Just three weeks before the downtown bus tragedy, one of the 17-ton vehicles hit a woman near a Sellwood-Moreland movie theater, knocking her out of her shoes. She had the walk signal as the TriMet driver turned left.
But despite recent history — and a federal study showing that bus-pedestrian collisions are more than twice as likely to happen during left turns — TriMet hasn't altered its operating procedures, The Oregonian has found.”
The article also stated that 60% of bus-pedestrian accidents involved buses making a turn, and around 70% of those collisions involved a left-turn.
After the April 24 pedestrian wrongful deaths, Trimet has begun a safety review and there is an ongoing investigation into that bus-pedestrian collision. We will have to wait and see what changes may come of this review.
An experienced Portland bus accident attorney can help you understand how this affects your case.
