PORTLAND, Ore. - A father, whose daughter died in April under the wheels of a TriMet bus, lashed out Wednesday night at a safety task force aimed at cutting down on those kinds of crashes.David Sale, who was in tears several times as he addressed the task force, said nothing’s really changed since his 22-year-old daughter, Danielle, was killed. He also said he’s fed up with TriMet and its safety task force.
“I don’t want to see you, you, anyone in this room go through what I’m going through … not a one of you, because you don’t deserve it,” Sale said pointing to members of the task force.
Danielle and 26-year-old Jenee Hammel were killed April 24 just before midnight when bus driver Sandi Day ran over them. Day was placed on paid leave and TriMet fired her in August after its investigation.
“I know Sandi Day did not run my daughter over on purpose. I know that. I know it for a fact,” Sale said. “TriMet took the action of firing her, for what purpose? To get the attention away from them.”
TriMet’s own statistics show a lot of these crashes just don’t have to happen. Between September of 2006 and February of last year, two-thirds of the cases where buses hit cars were ruled avoidable. Critics say the problem isn’t bus drivers; instead, it’s TriMet itself.
Sale said TriMet needs outsiders to come in and change the culture among some bus drivers.
“Their attitude is, ‘I drive a 40-foot bus, get out of my way,’” he said. “And the attitudes are going to change, because if they don’t, next time it’s going to be your daughter, your granddaughter, your neighbor’s daughter, your neighbor’s son. And it’s not fair.”
The safety task force itself is chaired by former TriMet General Manager Tom Walsh who headed the agency from 1990 to 1998.
Earlier,
Sale, and Darla Sturdy whose son, Aaron, was hit and killed by a MAX
train seven years ago, said they want the mass transit agency to use
video cameras to keep an eye on its drivers.
TriMet has installed video cameras on its buses and trains to help fight crime but none of the cameras show what drivers are doing.
They questioned board members and management on why there are no cameras watching drivers. They said they believe pointing cameras at drivers and train operators will help make them more responsible at the controls.
The questioning comes less than a week after a bus passenger recorded video of 40-year-old bus driver, Lahcen Qouchbane, reading from an e-book while steering his bus on Interstate 5 with an elbow.TriMet fired him on Wednesday.
They both told TriMet they believe every train and every bus should be equipped with driver cameras.
“The cameras that are everywhere on the bus, yet are not directed towards the drivers, and there are no other monitoring devices to monitor these drivers,” Sale said. “That’s completely absurd.”
“I’m not absolutely convinced that spying on all of our operators, with cameras, every moment of the day is the right way to get that alignment with that objective,” said TriMet’s general manager, Neil McFarlane.
While he doesn’t totally agree with the idea of cameras directed toward drivers, McFarlane says he wants the agency’s safety task force to look at the idea. But he also likened it to spying on drivers and train operators.
To McFarlane’s implication that it amounts to spying on operators, Sale said it really isn’t spying but can help protect drivers and train operators.
“You’re protecting the operators as well, because, what if an assailant comes on and attacks the driver? We have no video of what that assailant did,” said Sale. “Did the operator instigate it? Did the assailant instigate it?”
McFarlane said he wants the members of the safety task force to come back to him and the TriMet board with a recommendation.
TriMet has installed video cameras on its buses and trains to help fight crime but none of the cameras show what drivers are doing.
They questioned board members and management on why there are no cameras watching drivers. They said they believe pointing cameras at drivers and train operators will help make them more responsible at the controls.
The questioning comes less than a week after a bus passenger recorded video of 40-year-old bus driver, Lahcen Qouchbane, reading from an e-book while steering his bus on Interstate 5 with an elbow.TriMet fired him on Wednesday.
They both told TriMet they believe every train and every bus should be equipped with driver cameras.
“The cameras that are everywhere on the bus, yet are not directed towards the drivers, and there are no other monitoring devices to monitor these drivers,” Sale said. “That’s completely absurd.”
“I’m not absolutely convinced that spying on all of our operators, with cameras, every moment of the day is the right way to get that alignment with that objective,” said TriMet’s general manager, Neil McFarlane.
While he doesn’t totally agree with the idea of cameras directed toward drivers, McFarlane says he wants the agency’s safety task force to look at the idea. But he also likened it to spying on drivers and train operators.
To McFarlane’s implication that it amounts to spying on operators, Sale said it really isn’t spying but can help protect drivers and train operators.
“You’re protecting the operators as well, because, what if an assailant comes on and attacks the driver? We have no video of what that assailant did,” said Sale. “Did the operator instigate it? Did the assailant instigate it?”
McFarlane said he wants the members of the safety task force to come back to him and the TriMet board with a recommendation.
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