Articles Posted in Bus Accidents

Initially, it may seem as though this is an obvious question-laws requiring seat belts in cars are meticulously enforced in the United States. As a result of education and enforcement, seat belt use in the United States averages to about 86%, ranging from 66.5% in South Dakota, to 96.9% in Washington as of 2012. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), seat belts reduce 50% of deaths caused by car accidents. And yet, despite these statistics, a poll conducted by the National Education Association’s NEA Today magazine showed that 53% of respondents favored seat belts on school buses, whereas 47% did not . Given the aforementioned context of seat belt use U.S., these results are not necessarily intuitive. In fact, they open the door a debate about whether or not buses have different safety needs than cars.

In a 2006 Texas bus crash , a school bus overturned resulting in twenty-one injuries and the deaths of two students. Among the injured was a seventeen-year-old girl who was hurled out a window, landing so that her arm was stuck underneath the fallen bus. In yet another accident in February 2012 in New Jersey, a bus carrying twenty-five students collided with a truck resulting in seventeen injuries and one death. What is unique about the latter incident is that New Jersey is one of six states requiring school buses to have seat belts, whereas in Texas, school buses are not required to do so. Federal law requires that any vehicle weighing more than ten thousand pounds (like school buses) is not required to have seat belts as their high inertial capacity makes them less vulnerable to damage in a collision. The decision to include seat belts in such vehicles has been left to the discretion of the states, where the debate ensues.

However, in light of the disproportionately lower statistics associated with bus accidents, most state legislatures and the NHTSA have decided that the cost of installing the seat belts is not a cost-effective investment. According to a 2002 study by the NHTSA, compartmentalization was found to be effective in lowering the incidence of severe injuries, without the heavy costs associated with installing seat belts for which there is a projected loss of 104 to 125 million dollars. In addition, the National Education Association brings an interesting angle to this, explaining that bus drivers are generally opposed to the implementation of seat belts as well, citing that there are significant liability issues that are difficult to control and prove: children could unfasten their seat belts during the bus ride when the driver cannot enforce the rule .

California is one of six states requiring seat belts in school buses, and the only state in the country requiring lap-shoulder belts in new school buses. To resolve the issue of liability that concerns bus drivers, the state’s legislation explains that charges cannot be brought against the driver if a student has improperly fastened his/her seat belt, or does not fasten the seat belt at all. However, the law requires that the passengers are trained on how to use the seat belt, thereby placing a notable amount of personal responsibility for one’s safety. As for the problem of cost, most of California’s schools primarily transport elementary school students and not high school or middle school students. As a result of this, the costs associated with seat belt installation are reduced in proportion to the fewer number of buses in which to install them. Nonetheless, California is unique in this requirement. Most states cite the studies performed by the NTSB and NHTSA as grounds to consider the benefits of seat belts insufficient to warrant the expenditure.

On one side of the debate, school buses are said not to need seat belts on account of their structural design. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), school buses have a compartmentalized design that renders seat belts unnecessary. Instead, the tall, cushioned seats that are closely spaced together “effectively lower injuries” experienced by passengers resulting from a violent, forward motion in the case of a frontal collision. In addition, buses are said to be safer because they get into fewer accidents than cars, accounting for only 0.2 deaths per one hundred million vehicle miles traveled, compared to 1.44 deaths experienced by cars for the same unit of miles traveled. Blueford, one of the major manufacturers of buses, points out that children are twenty times more likely to be fatally injured in a car crash on their way to school than they would be on a bus.

However, statistics are not always as clear cut as they seem. A 2002 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) demonstrated that neither the compartmentalization nor presence of seat belts can independently improve safety. Art Yeager, a school bus safety advocate, points out that NTSB statistics are not a complete representation of the advantages buses may have over cars. In contrast with cars, buses are only on the road 180 days of the year, during the early morning hours whereas cars are on the road all day and all year including the statistically accident prone summer. And noticeably, there are more cars than there are buses on the road possibly explaining why there may be more instances of car accidents than bus accidents. These mediating variables convolute the statistical analysis by the NTSB, and further the debate.

The New Jersey crash presented a unique opportunity for analysis of the effects of seat belts. In the bus crash that occurred in 2012, some students were wearing seat belts, while others were not. Remarkably, the bus had a functioning camera in the interior of the vehicle that captured the events leading up to, and following the crash. This unique set of data was then used by doctors from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to analyze the effects of the impact on the children and compare the relative severity based upon whether or not the child was wearing a seat belt. Even in this analysis however, it is important to keep in mind that because there were different points of impact-when the tractor hit the bus causing the bus to spiral into a pole-a possible challenge in the doctors’ assessment may have been the uneven distribution of force amongst the passengers. Nonetheless, the doctors reviewing the video concluded that the compartmentalized designs of school buses do little to protect a side collision, and that seat belts that restrain both the lap and the shoulder are essential to preventing severe injuries.
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From bachelor and bachelorette parties to trips to the ballpark, party buses have become increasingly popular. In many cases, the buses are converted vans that have been outfitted with sound systems, elaborate lighting, and upgraded seating. Some party buses even include extras like smoke machines, dance floors, and stripper poles. While the buses can be a safer alternative to driving where alcohol is involved, they can be dangerous if not properly constructed and operated. Careless operation, or perhaps companies placing profits over safety, has led to serious party bus accidents in California and nationwide. Our office has the knowledge and experience needed to serve as a law firm for party bus accidents in San Francisco and throughout Northern California. We can help victims seek monetary compensation from those responsible for turning a night of fun into a night of tragedy.

Off-Duty Party Bus Involved in Fatal Crash

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, one of two people aboard a van died on Sunday when the vehicle spun out on Interstate 280 near Portola Valley. It was approximately 10:50 P.M. when the vehicle slid down an embankment in the area south of Alpine Road, killing the sole passenger (later identified as Adam “Maximo” Blomquist). Forty-three year old Jason Quinonez, the van’s driver, fled the accident scene. Office Amelia Jack of the California Highway Patrol reported that Quinonez was found walking nearby and later arrested on charges of manslaughter, hit-and-run, and drunk driving.

The light rail trains run by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) efficiently transports riders throughout the city with lines mainly starting in the downtown area, extending to the Castro, Mission, and Sunset districts. They act as alternatives through these heavily populated and popular San Francisco districts to the regular MUNI buses. With the introduction of the CLIPPER card payment system, riders are able to get on the light rail trains using any door to pay for their ride, instead of bottlenecking the train by only entering through the front, where drivers are located.

These light rail trains, also referred to as metro trains, travel at an average 9.6 mph and have their own train tracks on regular roads as to help fight off traffic. These trains, while a great method of transportation, have also seen its fair share of accidents, from those caused by errant automobile drivers, to those involving bicyclists, and even an incident where a metro train rear-ended another train. Due to the size, force, and overall might of these trains, these accidents have led to a good number of serious injuries, and even death.

On Saturday, July 13, 2013, an accident involving a metro T-train and a van fortunately only resulted in minor injuries. It occurred just shortly before 1:00 p.m. in the Bayview District. The van and light rail train were travelling parallel to one another along Third Street when the van attempted an illegal left turn onto Evans Avenue right in front of the train. The vehicles collided and there are a reported total of 19 injured. Most were sent to San Francisco General Hospital. Of the 19, eleven are receiving treatment for minor injuries and eight people have suffered from moderate injuries. A witness stated that she saw the van veer to the right and knock down a light pole, effectively shorting the overhead line that electrifies the train. The pole fell and shattered a window on the train.

The cable car system of San Francisco is an iconic part of San Francisco history. So much so that on this year’s San Francisco Giants World Series Championship ring, cable cars were part of one side of the ring’s design, and the rings themselves were brought out on cable cars at AT&T stadium. Songs praising and immortalizing the great city speak fondly of the cable cars that serve along the downtown area and a trip from tourists to the city would truly be incomplete without a ride up and down the San Francisco hills.

Cable Car History

The cable cars were first established in 1873. The success of the cable cars led to a cable car transit system that was used throughout the country. Over the past century, the cable cars as a means of transportation have been substituted with new, electric and bus lines that are less expensive and more efficient to operate. Now under the operation of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI), the cable cars mainly service tourists as commuters use the bus and metro MUNI lines instead. An estimated 7 million tourists ride the cable cars annually.

In a dense metropolitan city like that of San Francisco, it is virtually impossible to walk a couple of blocks without spotting a bus or at least a bus stop. The massive Municipal Transportation Agency, referred to often as either the SFMTA or MUNI, provides a service to the city of San Francisco as an efficient and cost effective means of public transportation throughout the city. However, no service is perfect and in recent weeks, there have been numerous reports of serious accidents involving MUNI vehicles that have caused injury to several individuals.

February 6, 2013 Cable Car Incident

Several weeks ago, our San Francisco attorney wrote and commented on the accident that occurred in the Nob Hill neighborhood. In this particular incident, a cable car carrying approximately 40 passengers came to an abrupt stop when a 1.5 inch bolt was stuck on the track. MUNI officials and inspectors determined that the bolt had fallen loose from a switch plate that covers a portion of the tracks. While the cable car tracks have sensors that would be triggered if there was any type of obstruction on the tracks, the bolt never touched the sensors, and no alarm went off to warn the cable car conductor. Officials also say that other cable cars passed through the same area safely just 10 minutes before the accident. The accident injured 7 individuals, with one elderly man suffered life-threatening injuries after having fallen and hitting his head.

The San Francisco Gate reported on Friday of a San Francisco Muni accident that injured a local 27-year old woman. According to the story, woman was walking her dog in the Inner Sunset neighborhood in the afternoon last week when she came upon two stopped Muni Metro cars. The woman tried to walk between the cars. It seems that she made it without a problem, but her dog became stuck underneath the connector that was coupling the two cars. The woman was able to step over the connectors, but this proved too difficult for the dog. The woman picked up the dog to carry it over.

However, it was at that moment that the trains began moving again. The woman was unable to get out of the way as the train started. She and the dog were eventually dragged about a half a block before the train stopped. Authorities explain that the woman was particularly lucky. She suffered some scrapes, bumps, and bruises, but things could definitely have been much worse.

This latest accident occurred on the N-Judah train line. Local residents know that the N-Judah is one of the most accident prone lines in the city. Every year more and more residents suffer a range of injuries on the line-often as a result of equipment problems, operator negligence, and the like. As the members of the rescue crew in this case explained, Muni accidents are often quite serious. They explained, “had she gone all the way underneath, the metal wheels literally would have amputated any part of her body that they’d come across. Those accidents are usually very tragic, but she was very fortunate.”

The N Judah line, which travels from Ocean Beach to 4th and King Streets, boasts the biggest share of ridership of San Francisco’s light rail lines. Unfortunately, it also boasts the largest number of accidents. According to the SF Examiner, the N Judah was involved in 84 accidents between 2008 and 2011, which is 26 more than the next most accident prone light rail line- the M-Ocean View.

Besides the high traffic on the N Judah line, the safety of the line is affected by its route through the busy Sunset District. The way the streets are designed gives the district a neighborhood feel, but it also makes it difficult for trains to pass through safely. Supervisor Matt Grossman expressed concern over the fact that many stops along the line lack boarding stations. Supervisor Carmen Chu admits that boarding procedures should be looked at on the line to improve safety.

Intersections of high concern include 9th Avenue and Judah street, where a combination of trains running lights, cars steering around trains, and jaywalkers have led to accidents like one in June, 2011, in which the N Judah collided with a truck making a U-turn. In May, 2011 an accident occurred between the N Judah and a vehicle at the intersection of 24th Avenue and Judah, when a driver collided with the N Judah where she had a stop sign and the N Judah did not.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) continues to look for ways to improve safety on the line. In June, 2011 SFMTA created the N Express bus line to relieve congestion during commute hours. Six months later, the SFMTA deemed the line a success and decided to make it permanent. Supervisor Carmen Chu worked with the Department of Public Works to install bright colored planter boxes at the intersection where turnaround for the N Judah is located.The boxes are meant to discourage drivers from making dangerous maneuvers to get around trains stopped there.
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