Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Go Home Already: Make Room
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Photo by Mehan Jayasuriya
UPDATE 10:41 a.m.: D.C. Fire/EMS now confirms that two people were taken to the hospital from the crash scene. Initially, an adult female pedestrian who was struck was transported with what's being described as serious and life threatening injuries. Then later, paramedics were called back to the scene to take the Metrobus driver to the hospital. The driver was not reportedly physically injured, but was taken to be evaluated for mental trauma. Florida Ave. is currently closed to traffic at Connecticut while police investigate.
UPDATE 10:46 a.m. WMATA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein lays out the preliminary findings of the Metro investigation into the crash: The bus in question was Metrobus #4262, which was empty at the time of the crash because it was finishing its route. The Metrobus driver was turning heading eastbound on Florida Ave. at its intersection with Connecticut, when, according to Metro, the pedestrian jogged into the street and was struck. The driver, who has been placed on administrative leave pending a routine investigation along with drug and alcohol testing, has been a Metrobus driver since Aug. of 2000. The MPD is heading up the crash investigation, with assistance from Metro Transit Police.
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You know, it'd be great to say, "Metro sucks, but at least they don't keep killing people."
Catholics should stop protesting abortion and the death penalty and should focus their efforts on Metro.
Seriously. Someone should break into the Metro bus depot and paint shark teeth on one a la WWII fighter planes. It would be quite apt.
Drivers should paint a silhouette of a pedestrian on the side of the bus, one for every "meat cone" they nail. Whoever nails the most wins a free single scoop at U Scream Ice Cream.
The icecream is not administered orally.
Here, let me get the ball rolling:
you should probably not drink and drive. or go to tom tom...
I walk past that intersection every day on my way to work on Conn Ave. I am not at all surprised that this happened. Metrobus drivers driving out of service buses tend to speed alarmingly on that stretch and make crazy fast right turns. I've also seen out of service buses drive down the street in Dupont at what seems like 50 - 60 mph.
Also, the walk signals at that intersection are frequently obstructed by UPS trucks or somehow get twisted around so you can't see them. (In fact, the walk signal on the corner of Fl & Conn by the Russia House is totally obstructed right now.)
speaking of crappy intersections, Florida/U/18th has to be one of the most dangerous.
How do we go about petitioning for signage?
People read signs? Who knew?
Oh my g-d, no kidding! I walk past that one too every day. I feel like I'm in a battle to stay alive on my daily commute.
How does that differ from on-duty metro buses? they all speed.
It's been my observation (I could be wrong) that if I see a Metrobus taking a crazy turn or speeding, it's out of service. I think they're more careful when they have passengers, and also they can't build up as much speed b/c they have to make frequent stops.
Heading north on the west side of Connecticut (though it sounds like this was on the east side), that crosswalk has been pedestrian-hostile for years. It used to be that it allowed only 7 seconds for people to cross, so it started immediatel with the flashing red hand after a single blink of the white walker.
Now it allows more time, but the two crosswalks (split by the island) are timed for maximum pedestrian frustration, since the walk periods overlap by only a few seconds, virtually guaranteeing that people will sprint across the second crosswalk with not enough time, rather than being stranded on the island for another cycle.
He was probably speeding to get to the Legs & Eggs special at Royal Palace.
I had no idea...
Unfortunately, that is just wishful thinking on my part.
Shame it wasn't a bicyclist, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal.
Actually, it's too bad it wasn't you. Then we wouldn't have to put up with yet another cyclist hating asshat. Respect everyone on the road, they're just trying to get somewhere just like you.
whoa, whoa. Just hold on for a second.
I think Papa meant that remark to be ironic (or ironical if that's how you roll).
Yeah, sorry. It's just that I almost ended up like a bug on the windshield of some dumbass' truck today. It put me in a pretty lousy mood.
Yeah, sorry. It's just that on my morning ride this morning I almost ended up a bug on someone's windshield. Put me in a pretty pissy mood.
People rip on bicyclists more (I'm guilty of it) but we have plenty of stupid pedestrians/joggers around too who are just as guilty.
Yeah, but it also depends just *where* at Conn & Florida she was hit. The intersection nearly encourages jaywalking, especially if you're heading down S from going north on the west side of Conn. In any case, I've seen far too many near-misses and confused drivers. The right turn slip lane on southbound Conn has a separate turn signal which is ignored more often than not by cabbies trying to head down Florida and probably needs to be rethought... That's not even to mention the fact that you have ~20 seconds to get from one side of Conn to the other-I sometimes have trouble making it if I didn't step off the curb at the first second-can't imagine an elderly person would have a chance...
ces12: DDOT's already on Florida/18th: Adams Morgan Streetscaping
Good to know!
I was walking past the scene minutes after it happened, when the first fire truck arrived.
http://whyihatedc.blogspot.com/2009/09/bus-strikes-pedestrian-in-dupont.html
from what I could tell the victim wasn't in the crosswalk, the bus was all the way through the crosswalk and people could still cross florida using the crosswalk. i'd estimate the person was crossing florida right by where the rite aid is instead of using the crosswalk with the island.
i'm skeptical of the claims she was a jogger, i saw papers strew across the street, likely from a briefcase or bag.
Just to clarify, Metro didn't suggest she was out jogging, simply that she "jogged" into the street, or in other words, that she was running across the street.
You may be right about where the bus was - when I walked past, the bus was stopped all the way past the cross walk, at least a bus-length out of it onto Florida.
Is it possible the bus hit her while she was still in the crosswalk, but traveled another 40 feet before it was able to stop? Terrifying thought.
Last time I checked getting hit by a bus usually moves you a little bit. She could have been thrown and rolled to where she was. When I saw her she was laying perpendicular to Florida in the eastbound lane with her head facing south.
I rode by her just after the impact happened, before any emergency vehicles responded, she was definitely wearing work out clothes. Though I am not sure if she was jogging when she got hit.
When I saw her there were not many papers or anything apparent, they could of been from the people helping her later after I left. She was rolling around crying out in pain and people were trying to keep her from trying to move.
Also, the bus was diagonal across the two lanes and was partially in the crosswalk, I would say it was turning right from Connecticut to head east on Florida. Though I did not actually see it happen so that is speculation I suppose.
Hopefully she is okay.
Real Worlders????? Anyone do a head count?
let's erect a "ghost person" on the corner, cover it in flowers and candles, and leave it there for eternity (or until a bus takes the corner too tight and swipes it or DOT removes it).
I'm always amazed at the number of snarky/joke-y comments that pop up here every time somoene dies. I'd hate to be a friend of the victim and come by this site.
Anyway, to get to my point, which bus line was this? The only route that I know of that crosses that intersection is 42/43, and that goes on Connecticut, not Florida.
If you step down from your soapbox for a minute, I don't see any snark against the victim - just against Metro.
Well then that's okay, because Metro is just a large, faceless bureaucracy. Presumably the bus was being driven by said bureaucracy, rather than a human being who is presumably feeling awful right now, whether or not he's at fault.
Snark away!
bingo. And in general quite a few commenters seemed to find this news occasion for general hilarity.
It was out of service, from what it sounds like, but not sure on which route it has just finished. According to WTOP, the bus was heading back to the Metro garage. Also according to WTOP, the woman was wearing ear buds. But I'll try not to jump to any conclusions.
Whatever happened with that $50 mil wrongful death suit against WMATA for the two women who were run down in 2007? Did they ever settle? Or did the driver get promoted?
"The widower and the daughter of a woman fatally struck by a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bus on Valentine's Day in 2007 have settled a suit with the agency for $2.3 million."
This is a terrible situation anyway you look at it. The driver of the Valentine's Metro Bus accident was sentenced about a year ago to over a year in jail for accepting responsibility for the accident. It was an accident and it was terrible. Let's all take into account that the Metro drivers are doing their jobs and certainly are not out saying " hey there's 50 points" if they hit a pedestrian. ( we know we have all joked about that when driving and there are jay walkers, yadda yadda)
Regardless the whole thing as well as this was terrible and devastating for all parties involved. From my understanding by the time Judge Kravitz sentenced the Metro bus driver the man had already had his life destroyed and lost everything. When i say everything I mean everything. He did not get paid while he was on leave and could not go back to work, he lost his home that he had lived in his entire life because he could no longer pay and he had a daughter with special needs that from understanding died and he had a heart attack all in the time after. I was under the impression that his wife had recently died a few years prior and he was the only living parent for his daughter.
It is sad from every angle and maybe we all need to take a few extra minutes and not be so easy to honk our horns, be in a rush or hurry when a few extra seconds of caution can be the matter between safety and danger and sometimes life and death.
Wow. This driver was clearly shaken up by the accident - he was taken to the hospital for it. Can we not jump to conclusions about this particular driver? We can say in general that Metro needs to have their drivers drive more safely - but we know nothing about this individual driver. And it's interesting to read the commenter above who thinks the pedestrian might not have been in the crosswalk. Can we please wait until we hear more about whether or not the driver could have stopped?
Thank you. Before we start jumping on Metrobus drivers, I'd like to know a little bit more about the accident. Yes, there are plenty of bus drivers who speed and take unnecessary risks. But the majority of drivers I deal with are quite competent and even friendly, believe it or not.
I think the bigger issue (and maybe one Greater Greater Washington will take up?) is that the intersection of Florida and Connecticut is a mess and EXTREMELY unfriendly to pedestrians. I'm surprised there haven't been more incidents there. Even crossing with the light I sometimes feel like I stepped into a game of Frogger.
Yes, there are plenty of bus drivers who speed and take unnecessary risks. But the majority of drivers I deal with are quite competent and even friendly, believe it or not.
Don't see why these two things are incompatable. 99.999999% of motor vehicle operators exceed the speed limit. So long as all people on foot, bicyclists, and anyone else adheres strictly to all signals and formal traffic codes, that generally works out fine.
But the second a non-motorized user makes a misstep--whether it's because they're distracted or because they're a child, or whatever--then they deserve whatever they get. After all, motor vehicle operators have no responsibility outside of the formal rules of operation.
Wouldn't it be great if they set up airport terminals with crosswalks, and signals, and a million other regulations, just like we do with streets in dense urban cores? That way those little motorized carts could travel at like 40 mph. Everyone wins!
I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic or funny or what? You think that she deserved to get hit by a bus.... wow!
ibc is a douche. This is the same person who, on another board a few days ago, responded to a woman asking questions about safety while considering a move to H St. by saying she was racist.
I don't even know if he believes anything he says or is just a troll.
Your tinny outrage has thawed the wintry lobes of my heart.
From now on, I'll stick to writing earnest screeds about how everyone in DC wears a bowtie, how there is not any sliver of community, and my Semester-at-Sea -based observations such as that there are is no social injustice in England.
Mission Accomplished!
Umm. Okay. First off, I was trying to make the point that I think people on this site give bus drivers a lot of crap. It's not fair to immediately assume the driver was at fault, considering that we know so little of what actually happened.
The main problem with that intersection is that the design is focused purely on convenience for cars, not for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is a problem we have all over DC.
By the way, we ALL have a responsibility to pay attention to what's going on around us. That applies to drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Think about the "shared street" concept. It doesn't just work because drivers are forced to slow down and be aware of pedestrians and bicyclists. It works because everyone using the street has to be aware of their surroundings.
The main problem with that intersection is that the design is focused purely on convenience for cars, not for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is a problem we have all over DC
Very astute. Now try to puzzle out why pedestrians and cyclists always seem to be breaking laws, and are not sufficiently "aware of their surroundings."
Let's go hypothetical: Let's say traffic engineering in the District proper was actually slightly weighted in favor of non-motorized road users. Get rid of all traffic lights, and replace them with stop signs. Reduce the District speed limit to 10 mph for all surface streets.
Wonder if this would result in an increase in driver scofflawism?
Um. Okay. First off, I was just trying to make the point that I think people on this site give bus drivers a lot of crap. It's not fair to immediately assume the driver was at fault, considering that we know so little of what actually happened.
The main problem with that intersection is that the design is focused purely on convenience for cars, not for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is a problem we have all over DC.
By the way, we ALL have a responsibility to pay attention to what's going on around us. That applies to drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Think about the "shared street" concept. It doesn't just work because drivers are forced to slow down and be aware of pedestrians and bicyclists. It works because everyone using the street has to be aware of their surroundings.
This is a dangerous spot. I got into the only (knock on wood) bike accident of my life when a driver pulled a U-turn out of nowhere from a parking spot. There are pedestrian crosswalks at 20th + Florida that I use nearly every day. Despite signs in the middle of the road, cars blow through there all the time inches from pedestrians cross in the cross walk. This poor woman may or may not have been in the crosswalk. Regardless, I'm going to shoot the next driver who doesn't stop for me when I'm in a crosswalk,
Speaking generally, as a pedestrian, I hate this intersection. Cars coming down the hill fly on through, and driver turning right onto Connecticut toward the circle also go very quickly. The lovely L'Enfant street plan creates some really wide right turns that are easy to take high speed. Obviously, that kind of speed wasn't a factor when people used horses for transportation. DC needs to find a way to slow drivers down on those wide turns. And, yes, pedestrians needs to cross where and when they're supposed to.