SEPTA Injury Lawyer

Philadelphia SEPTA Injury Lawyer: SEPTA Bus Drivers claim side view mirror may contribute to pedestrian accidents

In Philadelphia, SEPTA bus drivers warn that poorly placed bus mirrors may cause a pedestrian accident.  Drivers complain that they are at an increased risk of hitting pedestrians they cannot see due to their poorly placed outside rear-view mirrors. They are urging SEPTA to reposition the mirrors.

In 2012 alone, 3 pedestrians were killed in 63 accidents involving SEPTA buses. Bus drivers complain that the placement of the bus mirrors creates a blind spot that endangers pedestrians and may cause a pedestrian accident, especially while the bus driver is making a left turn.

David Sale whose daughter was killed by a left-turning bus in 2010 agrees. “We don’t have to put drivers in that position,” Sale said last week.  The driver who killed Sale’s daughter and another woman and injured three others was fired, and “she got a life sentence the day she hit my daughter,” Sale said. “She’ll have to live with that every day for the rest of her life.” Sale traveled to Harrisburg last week with SEPTA officials of the drivers’ union to lobby legislators for the change.

SEPTA officials acknowledge the mirrors create temporary blind spots but have resisted refitting the mirrors on their fleet of 1,400 busses saying that repositioning the mirrors could cause other safety issues. Instead of refitting the mirrors, SEPTA chose to increase driver training.

Last year, 13 SEPTA pedestrian accidents involved left-turning busses, 17 in 2011 and 19 in 2010. “Collisions involving buses turning left and pedestrian contact usually result in serious injuries and, sometimes, fatalities,” wrote Michael Liberi, chief surface transportation officer, in a memo to drivers last year. He urged drivers to adjust mirrors, seats, and steering wheels and to move around in their seats to improve visibility.

The issue is a national problem stated Greg Hull, director of operations safety and security for the American Public Transportation Association. Cameras, sensors, flashing lights, and audible signals have been tried by other transit agencies, some with success. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority won a national safety award for its efforts to reduce pedestrian accidents. They shifted bus mirrors, improved training, outfitted busses with beeping signals and flashing lights, and introduced a “talking bus” where a recorded voice warns “Caution, pedestrians, bus is approaching.” After the changes, Cleveland buses have not hit a pedestrian between March, 2009 and January 2011.

Share

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *