Trimess

Monday, March 5, 2012

TriMet: Bus Driver Who Hit Tigard Woman On Oregon 99W Has ‘good Record’

ZAGRIB.COM

1 comment:

Erik H. said...

That suspiciously looks like something I typed up:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2012/02/trimet_says_bus_driver_who_hit.html

Had you read any of the preceding stories about this incident you would have known:

1. The bus was operating on route 45 Garden Home, travelling south on S.W. Walnut Street and then turning left (eastward) onto northbound Pacific Highway (Oregon 99W),

2. The operator had a green light and was making a legal left turn,

3. The time of the incident was approximately 7:30 PM,

4. The person who was struck was located 30-50 feet east of the crosswalk, and was NOT in the crosswalk nor had a walk signal,

5. The person who was struck was wearing dark clothing,

6. The person was described as having "darted across the highway" to go to a convenience store (located at the 76 gas station) and then having attempted to "dart back" to meet with her friends when she was struck.

Contrary to some misguided belief, pedestrians do not have absolute right-of-way. This pedestrian would not be in the hospital had she simply taken the extra minute to use the clearly marked - and signaled - crosswalk - 30-50 feet away. Or about the length of a standard TriMet bus away.

The bus Operator's past history is actually irrelevant, but only underscores that TriMet nor its Operator is clearly not at fault. I feel bad for him - both the emotional impact of having to deal with an event outside of his control (not unlike a railroad engineer who is powerless when a car drives onto the tracks in front of the train), and having to be tried in the court of public opinion.