GCP writes:
Did you hear about the bus accident at 45th & I think Latona (whichever is northbound) today around 5:30ish? Not sure the time exactly because I didn’t look, but my husband, daughter, and I were just leaving Comics Dungeon when we hear the unmistakeable sound of a car accident. We walked outside and looked to our left and saw the 26 Express in the middle of the intersection with its bike rack broken off and on the ground. Further investigation found a pickup truck with a very flat tire and slight rear passenger side damage parked in the Framing Store parking lot. There were what looked like shelving units in the bed of the truck.
We then ran into a passenger that had been on the bus and he said that the bus was stopped at the red light, the light turned green, the bus started going and then BAM! He said the pickup truck looked to be going at least 40 mph and most likely ran the red light at that intersection. All eastbound traffic toward the UDistrict was backed up as they couldn’t cross the intersection and were all turning left up Latona.
From what we could tell, there were no injuries, all the passengers seemed to have exited the bus to find another way home. The police had yet to arrive when we left.
Can you find out more information on what happened and if the bus driver and everyone is okay?
Hmmm. There is a particular driver of the #26 who I almost reported Tuesday afternoon. He tends to cut it close sometimes. But on Tuesday he was going northbound at 5:25pm & blew through a red light at 34th & Fremont. I boarded the bus & watched him do it again at Stone Way & 35th. Since it sounds like the truck ran the light here rather than the bus driver, I won’t feel terribly guilty about not reporting this particular driver. But I think I’ll make that phone call next time, just in case…
I wasn’t there yesterday, but I walk and drive both that intersection and the one at Thackeray very often and ALWAYS with extreme caution. Drivers frequently blow right thru those lights as if they weren’t even there. maybe because it’s a short block and they see one, but not the other?? Whatever the reason, when driving we don’t even think about proceeding before counting to five after the light turns green!
I’m also tired of close calls in the crosswalks by turning drivers, regardless of how carefully I check. I want to start a campaign to eliminate ‘right turns on red’ anywhere in the city’s ped overlays because drivers almost invariably forget the ‘after stop’ part of the rule. Any takers?
As a longtime pedestrian, I can attest that many drivers neglect the “after stop” part of “right turn on red”. I am fully onboard (no pun intended) with eliminating right turn on red!
Where I almost lost the farm was in the crosswalk going east from the dry cleaners (northwest corner) at Wallingford Ave and 45th; my light was green with the walk-OK white person symbol lit – the driver of a car trying to beat the oncoming traffic (he was going west on 45th initially) turned fast and stopped within inches of me. I froze and will in the future stay put and call 9-1-1 but instead I listened to him yell at me because what was my problem . . . the irony is that I know not to use that crosswalk (or the one coming from Babalu going east to Wallingford Center for a similar beat-the-light reason. Walking used to be fun and now it is like a competitive sport around here.