The Barnes Firm

Boosting Bus Safety

• October 13, 2016
• Sandy

OAKLAND, Calif. – Your neighborhood intersection is more dangerous than ever. Think about it.

Pedestrians are often distracted by their smartphones – sometimes crossing a street without giving it their full attention. Further adding to the safety problem, drivers can be pressured into making hasty decisions; whether they’re distracted, falling behind schedule, or influenced by other traffic.

An Oakland bus accident attorney at The Barnes Firm says the vehicles themselves could be better equipped to avoid a crash.

“Take a look at buses – their window frames and mirrors can hide as many as 12 people,” Oakland bus accident attorney Landon Vivian said. “These blind spots are particularly dangerous when a bus is attempting to make a turn through a crosswalk.”

Buses are one of the biggest dangers for those crossing the street. Each year, more than two dozen pedestrians are struck by Southland Metro buses.

One state is now testing a new safety feature and hopes it can reduce the number of bus-pedestrian crashes. The King County Metro Transit, among others will be testing a new alarm in Washington State.

According to the Seattle Times, total of 38 buses will be equipped with dashboard alarms that flash when people are walking in those big bus blind spots. The alarm system would work like this:

• If the bus is within 3 seconds of hitting someone, a yellow icon will flash on the dashboard.
• At one second, the icon turns red and an alarm goes off.

California is among the states considering similar systems.

“Vehicles are now being equipped with sophisticated systems like automatic braking that could avoid a potentially deadly situation,” Vivian said. “There’s no reason buses shouldn’t have the same safety features that cars have.”

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks some transit authorities are currently weighing. First, the cost to implement these systems can add up – to equip every bus with the alarms would cost the Bay Area millions of dollars. Secondly, some are concerned that the alarms are not practical.

For example, a person can step off a curb into the path of an oncoming bus in an instant – leaving no time for the vehicle’s sensors to alert the driver. Heavy traffic could also pose a problem if the sensors mistake traffic for pedestrians; it could be enough to annoy the bus driver.

Oakland bus accident attorneys say bus crashes cost insurance companies more than $5 million in claims and leave many families heartbroken and injured. They say any safety improvement would be a welcomed.

The Barnes Firm 1-(800) 800-0000