December 6, 2007
Disturbing Video of Fatal Metrobus Accident
Commenter Lionel M. Hutz linked to a video yesterday in our post about the 1-year jail sentence handed down to the former Metrobus driver who struck and killed two women in February. Rusty over at why.i.hate.dc also linked to it this morning, and since then, the DCist Staff email list has been filled with a lot of phrases like "Wow", "Holy crap!" and "That's the single most horrific piece of video I've seen in a while."
The video, containing footage taken by The National Archives Building security camera pointing directly at the crosswalk where Martha Schoenborn and Sally McGhee were run over and killed at 7th & Pennsylvania Ave NW on Feburary 14, 2007, is not for the faint of heart -- though it's far away enough that you don't actually see any gore or anything of that nature.
This link will take you to a disclaimer about the graphic nature of the video, and a subsequent link to the video itself. Really upsetting stuff. A quick search on allwhois.com shows that the domain is registered to Martha Schoenborn, one of the victims, whose husband, Greg Schoenborn, has filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Metro in U.S. District Court.
UPDATE, 12/17: Greg Schoenborn contacted us both in comments and via email and said he had nothing to do with the posting of this video online. To clarify, whoever did register this url used the name Martha Schoenborn to do so, though Mr. Schoenborn's statement suggests that person used the name without the knowledge of her husband.
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Wow thats horrible. Was the bus driver high?
Wow. This has made me sick to my stomach. I wonder if the driver's sentence was shortened because unlike what Mr. Schoenborn stated in the disclaimer, the two woman did not have the right of way on their part of the crosswalk, only on the first half (nearest) of it. Not that this makes the driver's acceleration any more egregious or despicable.
A caller to a local morning radio show this morning who claimed to have friends who are Metrobus drivers implied that some of them get drunk and/or high before their shifts. Metro needs to check their shit.
A caller to a local morning radio show this morning who claimed to have friends who are Metrobus drivers implied that some of them get drunk and/or high before their shifts. Metro needs to check their shit.
... it's sad that the bus doesn't even stop within the frame of the shot. did the driver continue to drive off??
comments are broken today
Why are two way, double (triple?) lane intersections not lit up better?
Regardless, it's awful. I can't imagine the pain this must have caused...but what I really can't imagine is having a video of my loved one being killed. Or maybe worse, having everyone on DCist and other blogs watch it over and over.
I don't think you can make out the pedestrian signal, shorties.. but because the left arrow isn't on, I don't see any reason why pedestrians wouldn't have the right of way.
The most disturbing part, to me, is that the bus travels a whole length before even applying the brakes. A typical bus is 40 ft long.
The video has obviously been sped up, for some unknown reason.
As disturbing as that video is, did it need to be played back at faster-than-real-life speed? (Watch the speed at which various pedestrians are walking -- this definitely is not normal playback.)
Or maybe there's just something wrong with the software on my end.
No, sped up for me too. It does make the bug seem like it was going about 50 mph. Even so, obviously not good driving there. Sickening.
bus, not bug...obviously
many security recording cameras skip frames to save time/space in recording.
i don't know that that's necessarily what's happening here, but that's not unusual.
also, did the bus driver even stop?
that made me sick to my stomach. at least the 2nd (beige) car stopped, and the first (black) car had the sense to block the scene with their car.
Astounding video. The bus driver hit them without any indication that he had any clue there were in front of him. And it's also stunning the cars that try to speed around the accident. Obviously none of them realized what had happened, but it's still disturbing to watch.
Shorty, I don't think you're right about the walk signal. Look at the video again, you'll see a light is blinking the whole time. After they are hit that blinking liggt goes solid with the first don't walk signal. The blinking light can be found around the shoveled sidewalk area at the top of the screen.
I still think this dude is getting off way too easy. Someone commented on the original post that it's a lot of pressure to drive those buses. It's their job. They get trained. You're not supposed to run over people, that driver's ed. 101.
I think it was mentioned before, but it appears that this is one of those crosswalks where the OK to cross is only good for half of the road. You are supposed to stop in the middle and wait for the other side to tell you it is OK to cross. This is very dangerous for people that may not be paying attention and/or are not familiar with the area (which is the case with so many visitors to this city). This issue needs to be addressed, along with many others like: better lighting, drug testing and training of bus drivers, etc...
Dear God. That's not graphic, but it's very disturbing.
They say the bus driver didn't even look before he turned. I don't know if that's true, but he definitely cut in front of two oncoming cars, which looked like a dangerous move, especially with the streets wet.
I'm heartened a little by the fact that the very first two cars stopped and tried to help. There are a lot of stories of people going right by someone who needs help and doing nothing.
I suspect there wasn't much anyone could do, however. It probably was over at the point of impact.
That was terrible and absolutley stomach turning.
The one positive thing is that there were a couple of good samartians who stopped and tried to help. For some reason, that makes me feel better.
The person was definately in the cross walk. If the light was blinking or not, well, how could the driver not see him/her?
Wow.
I remember this day and this news story. This was during the worst couple of weather days/nights of the 06/07 winter. It's a dangerous enough turn in good road conditions, why the heck would someone try it in bad?
@ag:
Speaking as a frequent pedestrian, it's easy. Motorists aren't looking where their cars are GOING, they're looking where cross traffic comes from. You can see this most obviously when a motorist is turning right, particularly in a situation where the right turn is yielding to the cross traffic. Most motorists turn and look over their left shoulder at oncoming traffic and DO NOT LOOK IN FRONT OF THEM where their thousands of pounds of steel are headed.
It is frustrating, and it kills people.
The pedestrians had the right of way. This TYPICAL driver of a Metrobus KILLED these 2 woman by maneuvers he probably performed on a daily basis -- like so many other incompetent Metro bus drivers. He endangered 2 cars when he made the left turn and he punched it to try and beat them. His actions are there to be seen by all. What I find horrifying is that it almost appears that the 2nd car ran over one of the victims again. Truly sad. This killer did not get enough time in jail in my opinion. The message the judge sent was Metro.. it's ok that you killed 2 people, you'll only spend a year in jail -- keep up the good work!
As a former FTC staffer who used to walk that intersection daily, I'd like to point out that these women absolutely had the right of way. The metrobus driver in this case was 100% in the wrong, but an accident of this nature was bound to happen given how the intersection was set up (I mean, I used to dodge not only metrobuses but regular drivers and cabbies almost every day). Anyone trying to go north-west on Penn Ave from 7th would have to cross without any right-of-way (the situation has now been remedied by a turn-signal for drivers coming north on 7th). Watching this is sickening not only because of the lives that were lost but because it was so preventable.
@ ms_joe_gibbs - Yes, this was on Valentine's day (or the day before) - the 7th/Penn intersection was horrendous due to the poor street salting/plowing. You can't really tell from this video, but on the south-east part of the intersection (closest to the Archives camera), there was an enormous lake of slush that was probably 3-4 inches deep and extended probably 10 feet from the curb). It was definitely a bad weather day.
I witnessed a women get hit by a Metro bus in that same intersection in 2004. It was at night. She survived, I guess. When I approached her she wasn't bleeding or anything. I called 911. The cops came and the ambulance took her to the hospital.
Can DC authorities do something improve visibility in that intersection?
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but in regards to who has the right of way - it doesn't matter what the signal said...pedestrians ALWAYS have the right-of-way. They may be jaywalking - but they still have the right-of-way over a vehicle.
You wrote:
A quick search on allwhois.com shows that the domain is registered to Martha Schoenborn,
WRONG.
I have nor does my family have any affiliation with posting this video.
Greg Schoenborn
Maybe everyone could enjoy what life was before this accident.
http://schoenborn.net/martha/