Critics Worried About Pedestrian Safety as New Buses Roll Out

 New York City has started operating its newest fleet of buses over the last few days. These are the blue and yellow Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses we see around the city. Officials say there will be 2,000 more over the next five years replacing 40 percent of the entire MTA fleet. These buses come with free Wi-Fi and USB charging ports to enhance the bus riding experience, CBS New York reports. But, safety advocates say, the top priority should be to make improvements on buses that will help save lives.

Around the country, and especially in New York City, bus accidents involving pedestrians are a cause for serious concern. One pedestrian death every 10 days has been reported as a result of collisions with buses, according to the Amalgamated Transit Union. Blind spots stemming from how buses are designed have been blamed for these types of pedestrian accidents.
Pedestrian Accidents in New York City
So far, just in 2016, 22 pedestrian accident deaths and 1,925 injuries have been reported. In 2013, 183 pedestrian deaths were reported, a significant increase from the 158 fatalities in 2011. This spike caused Mayor Bill de Blasio to roll out the Vision Zero program with the goal of reducing the number of traffic accident deaths to zero. This did help to some degree as pedestrian deaths fell to 136 in 2015.
However, seven of those pedestrian fatalities and one bicycle fatality involved MTA buses and those eight deaths included a stretch last year when three people were killed just in one month. Since the city started enforcing its Right of Way law in August 2014, which makes it a misdemeanor for motorists to injure pedestrians and bicyclists who have the right of way, at least 11 bus drivers have been arrested for violations of the law.
Safety Technology in Buses
Bus drivers have complained about how the placement of large side mirrors and thick pillar frames of the buses leave them with large blind spots, unable to see pedestrians in time to avoid serious injury crashes. Last year, the MTA announced it would start testing two different safety technologies that it hopes will eventually improve bus safety.
One of those is a pedestrian turn warning system and the other is a collision avoidance system. The warning system will involve speakers issuing audible warnings aimed at alerting pedestrians, bicyclists and other vehicles that the bus is making a turn. The volume of these alerts will also be adjusted according to the noise levels in the area. The collision system would use sensors to alert the bus driver with both visual and audio alerts if a forward or side-impact crash is imminent. MTA puts the total cost of updating all its buses with both safety technologies at $77 million.
Preventing Bus-Pedestrian Collisions
As we have seen in New York City, there have been a number of accidents involving buses and pedestrians. Many of them occur at intersections where pedestrians are crossing the street. Often times, these are busy intersections where there is heavy pedestrian traffic. We also hear bus drivers in such cases tell police officials that they “did not see” the pedestrians going across the road.
This tells us that there is a more urgent need for critical safety measures in buses rather than “luxuries” such as USB charging ports or Wi-Fi connections. While it’s nice to have these conveniences in New York City buses, safety, not only for bus passengers but also for the others on the roadway, should always be the top priority. The safety technologies, which officials already have, will help save lives and prevent thousands of injuries.
Compensation for Injured Victims
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus or pedestrian accident or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a reckless driver or due to someone else’s negligence, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a man who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Source: https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/05/22/nyc-new-buses/