Rick Sallinger
E-mail DENVER (CBS4) ―
-
Click to enlarge -
CBS
-
Click to enlarge - Visit the CBS4 Investigates section.
The first fatalities happened on April 3 at 8th and Lincoln. Police say a bus went through a red light, totaling a car and killing both people inside. Days later in Aurora, a 78-year-old man was run over by a bus, but police have not yet determined who was at fault in that accident. And in Lafayette, a bus leaving a park-n-ride plowed into a bicyclist, killing him and creating community concern about bus safety on the roads.
CBS4 investigators watched and rode RTD buses over a three week period to see how safety played into the driver's daily routes. The investigation found that the vast majority of drivers are exercising caution. But one common problem became apparent: drivers treating yellow lights as if they were green and proceeding through intersections often to prevent sudden stops.
"Do you go through red lights?" CBS4's Rick Sallinger asked driver Tim Domenico.
"I've been driving 2 years and 4 months. This week I've probably gone through two red lights. We're talking probably half-a-second," Domenico responded.
Domenico is among many drivers who is paid and trained by a private contracting company. Among the weekend routes he drives is 83L, the same route where driver Tideneykiyalesh Hawariyat is accused of going through the red light and killing two people.
Domenico invited CBS4 investigators to ride along on his bus. He explained that it's a difficult route to keep on schedule. In Dominco's opinion, as well as others CBS4 talked to, the schedules could lead to some safety shortcuts among some drivers as they try to get the route back on time.
Tim Domenico talks with CBS4's Rick Sallinger
"You push. You're going 5 to 7 mph over the speed limit. You are not slowing down to see a light change from yellow to red as we are trained to do," Domenico told CBS4.
On the day that CBS4 crews were on board, the bus was running 6 minutes behind as it approached the 8th and Lincoln intersection where the April 3 accident happened.
"So you can't see the traffic coming here because it's a blind intersection."
Domenico pointed out that the design of the intersection prevents drivers from seeing traffic going west on 8th Ave.
As the bus arrived at Civic Center Station, the end of the route, it was 8 minutes late. That meant no break time for Domenico before he had to start the route again.
CBS4 cameras caught buses picking up speed to get through yellow lights, but often by the time they cleared the intersection the lights had long been red. The RTD bus operator's guide states "Never run a red light and avoid entering an intersection on a yellow light."
Sallinger showed the video to RTD officials. They pointed out that a bus is a long, heavy object that is difficult to stop especially in downtown rush hour traffic.
"The shots that you showed us, there were a couple that were questionable at best and a couple that we really didn't like what we saw there, that probably should have stopped," said RTD spokesman Scott Reed.
The transit system acknowledges that it's looking into whether schedule timing on that route with the double fatal is a problem. The recent accidents have prompted RTD to put all its drivers through safety retraining. But more than half those who drive RTD buses do not work for RTD.
In the late 1980s, the transit system brought in private contractors to handle the buses, drivers, and mechanics on some routes. It costs RTD less than doing the job itself, but the contracted drivers get paid less, have different training and worse safety record than drivers who work directly for RTD.
RTD works with two main contractors, Veolia Transportation based in Paris and First Transit headquartered in Scotland. Veolia officials insist that lower pay does not mean less safety.
"Veolia seeks out the best qualified candidates that meet or exceed the requirements of both the RTD and Veolia Transportation and we only hire the best qualified candidates for the position," said Jim Wolf, Veolia regional manager.
Statistics provided by RTD show it has a better safety record year-after-year than both Veolia and First Transit.
"There is overall higher incidents rate with private contractors and that's something we are addressing with our private contractors to see how we can bring that down even lower," said RTD's Reed.
RTD drivers have certainly not been without problems. There was an RTD driver behind the wheel of the bus that struck the bicyclist in Lafayette. Driver Paul Johnson was charged. He was hired despite a conviction of driving while ability impaired 8 years before.
That is outside RTD's time limit.
Paul Johnson
Veolia insists it has a good safety program but acknowledges that's of little solace to those impacted by fatal accidents. In the wake of these four incidents, RTD is looking into ways to make the buses on Denver's road safer.
Since the interview with CBS4, Domenico was placed on unpaid leave by Veolia. The company said he had prior disciplinary issues. Domenico says he may seek whistleblower status in any possible legal action.
Veolia provided CBS 4 News with a letter sent by Domenico to the company after
he conducted an interview. It offered to halt all contact with the media if Veolia
would lay him off and not interfere with a claim for unemployment compensation.
No comments:
Post a Comment