This kind of senseless death really bothers me. (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

I'm a little dismayed by the close mindedness of some of the responses I've read here.

Same here. The driver is evil. It's decided. After all, we know ALL the facts. Let's lynch him.

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Holadem

 

[Micheal]

Please try to keep in mind people, that most likely this bus driver did NOT wake up and decide to plow into a car today,

Of course not. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be held accountable for his actions.

 

[Scott L]

Personally if I was in that situation where I couldn't get the car to move out of a moving lane I would have gotten out of the car (on the shoulder side) with my wife and child and wait by the guardrail for help to come. I've seen this happen many times, a broken down car on a busy highway being slammed from the rear. Not really too shocked about what happened here in this story, just immensely sad for the family.

 

[Rain]

There is no way that the bus driver couldn't have seen them.

You're right. I'm sure he drove straight into the car deliberately.

Let's be reasonable here.

Yes, this is a horrible accident. Yes, it is a tragedy that a child was killed.

But finding a place to lay blame isn't going to bring anyone back to life.

It seems to be that every time someone is killed nowadays, someone must be blamed. If revenge can be taken on that person, so much the better.

Really, sometimes accidents just happen.

 

[Nathan*W]

This is not offered as an excuse and I agree that the bus driver should be charged

 

[Micheal]

Maybe you have to drive on that part of the highway (like I do) to understand. They were pulled over onto a lane that is ONLY used by buses. You sit there in traffic and see a bus fly by in the bus lane every 15 minutes or so. It's straight at that point of the drive (near Montreal road) and you would have to be blind not to see a car siting directly in front of you as you come up to it in a long straight line. If there were signs of the bus slowing down, skid-marks or something to that effect... I wouldn't be this upset. But it was broad daylight and by all reports the bus driver hit the car at around 100kph. I'm sorry if I think that someone should be responsible for this but I can't change the way that I feel. Accidents happen, but when the news starts talking about possible charges being laid then you know that there is more to this than meets the eye.

You're right. I'm sure he drove straight into the car deliberately

How many times do we have to go over this? What do you think happened? Do you think the car just jumped in front of the bus? Do you think as he approached the car for over a KM that it was invisible? Do you think that he could have at least applied the brakes? He hit it dead on! It didn't just appear out of thin air.

If I find out that his brakes failed then you will read my apology. Aside from that he should be held responsible for his actions regardless of what that does for the family. I don't want someone driving a bus that can't see a car sitting in front of it, in broad daylight, as it barrels down on it for well over a KM. Sue me.

 

[Justin Lane]

Sad situation, but I personally would never stay in my car if it broke down, especially on the highways I drive each day coming into and out of Philadelphia. From that picture it appears that there is ample shoulder room as well as accessible grass areas beyond the shoulder. This seems to be simply a very unfortunate accident. I am pretty sure the bus driver didn't purposefully cream the car to be possibly arrested and lose his livelihood.

J

 

[Micheal]

Also, since the collision happened at 11 am, I doubt there was the bumper-to-bumper, standstill traffic that you describe. Common sense says that if there was this type of traffic, the bus behind them could have never gotten up to 100 kph because of all the traffic.

Last point for a while and I'm using your entire quote so you don't think I'm using it out of context.

The bus can go as fast as it wants! (within speed limits) It has it's own lane! It can be bumper to bumper but the bus lane will be empty, it's just for buses! Maybe you have to live here to get it but the lane is always empty. (save for the odd bus that flies by every 10 to 15 minutes, less often on Sundays)
Someone from out of town might even mistake it for being off the highway since there is never any traffic on it and it is all the way off to the right. If they don't know what the diamond on the pavement means they might very well mistake it for being off the highway.

 

[Justin Lane]

Let's change the situation. What if this guys car broke down, he took his family out of the car and the bus proceeded to plow into an empty car, resulting in an accident that killed passengers on the bus.

I have a feeling the bus driver would be getting a bit more slack then he is now, and the guy who left the car in the lane to kill others on the bus would be villified as an ignorant moron who needs to pay for his crime.

Perspective.

J

 

[MarkHastings]

Micheal,

You bring up a great point about possible break failure.

and you would have to be blind not to see a car siting directly in front of you as you come up to it in a long straight line.

Which is exactly why there are those here who are finding issues with people immediately wanting to lynch this guy. If you would have to be blind in order to miss the car, then wouldn't that suggest that maybe there is something about the crash that you don't know?

I don't think anyone here really thinks the bus driver shouldn't be held responsible (no one's denying that), but maybe there's something else to the story that we don't know. Maybe his brakes DID fail and by hitting the car he saved the lives of everyone on the bus (and the people in traffic) by not flipping the bus over by swerving...Who knows?

If we find out that he was just careless and just plowed into the car without even flinching, then we can all break out the torches, but until we know every detail, we gotta believe in "Innocent until proven guilty".

 

[Micheal]

Let's change the situation. What if this guys car broke down, he took his family out of the car and the bus proceeded to plow into an empty car, resulting in an accident that killed passengers on the bus. I have a feeling the bus driver would be getting a bit more slack then he is now, and the guy who left the car in the lane to kill others on the bus would be villified as an ignorant moron who needs to pay for his crime.

Perspective.

No, because cars break down. Sometimes it's hard to direct your broken-down car to go anywhere. A man driving a vehicle that he has complete control over would have no excuse for plowing into a car that he can see at such a distance. Like I said, if it turns out that the bus was out of control due to mechanical failure.. I'll gladly apologize. It doesn't look like that's the case.

 

[Micheal]

If we find out that he was just careless and just plowed into the car without even flinching, then we can all break out the torches, but until we know every detail, we gotta believe in "Innocent until proven guilty".

I agree with this to a point but the odds of that happening are against him, and I (like everyone else) am allowed an opinion. I believe that the people traveling in an unfamiliar (rental) car, in an unfamiliar area that had car problems and were driven over by a bus are the true innocent people here. IMHO

 

[Malcolm R]

Even if the brakes were faulty, he could have engaged the emergency brakes or turned the steering wheel.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Innocent or not, they didn't have sense enough to get out of a traffic lane after their car came to rest and they called for a tow. Come on now, if you broke down on a highway, in a lane of traffic, would you stay in your vehicle or get out and stand beside it? I sure as hell wouldn't do either. I'd exit the vehicle and get to the side of the road and wait off the shoulder in the grass.

This reminds me of not too long ago a motorist broke down at a redlight at the base of an interstate offramp. Instead of getting out of the vehicle and walking four or five steps off to the shoulder to signal to the approaching motorists that his car was broken down, he gets out of the car, closes the door, walks in front of the car and gets down on his hands and knees to look under the front of the car. Motorists approaching the vehicle (slowing from an interstate speed of 70mph to turn onto the highway from the offramp) saw the car and thought it was going to take off because the light had just turned green, so they never came to a complete stop, or even slowed to below about 30mph before they colided with the back of the stalled car, thus removing the driver (who was looking under the front of his car, mind you) from the genepool.

NO car breaks down and comes to an immediate stop.

Exactly. If they were in standstill traffic and they broke down, how did they travel into the bus lane? If they were moving and the engine quit or they had some other malfunction, how/why did they come to rest in the bus lane? If they were moving anything over 15mph(24kph), they should have had enough speed to have traveled onto the shoulder. It doesn't make sense.

 

[Scott_lb]

I'm going to jump in here for just a second: Driving around Los Angeles I have seen parked cars in the middle lane of the freeway at night with their lights off (and hopefully no one inside) and people could still see it enough to drive around it (although some were indeed swerving). I've also seen a few couches parked in the carpool lane during the day time. People drove around them as well.

 

[Nathan*W]

I'm going to jump in here for just a second: Driving around Los Angeles I have seen parked cars in the middle lane of the freeway at night with their lights off (and hopefully no one inside) and people could still see it enough to drive around it (although some were indeed swerving).

And if a motorist had hit said car with (perhaps) people inside, would people in this thread be blaming it on the "reckless, SOB" motorist? Or the people that left their car in a travel lane and decided to camp out?

What if the broken down car was an SUV (where everyone survived) and the car that rear ended it was a Ford Escort(where the driver died)?

 

[Andrew W]

And if a motorist had hit said car with (perhaps) people inside, would people in this thread be blaming it on the "reckless, SOB" motorist?

Absolutely, striking another vehicle from the rear means you are "reckless." It is a result of following too close, going too fast or not paying attention. There is almost no excuse and that is why drivers are almost always cited for rear ending another vehicle.

 

[Todd Hochard]

If the driver of a motor vehicle runs into a stationary object, it's the driver's fault. There isn't a whole lot of room for discussion on that.
It's a shame the kid died. You can bet that there is NO WAY I'd have stayed in that car. NONE. I would have taken my chances, as I'd have more control over that than simply being a sitting duck. Safety statistics don't take into account that I'm a REALLY fast runner. Also note that I feel that the driver of the car placed his family at undue risk, by simply not better anticipating an "out" for his car problems. Short of a rapid, catastrophic drivetrain failure, there is almost always ample warning of an impending problem. Of course, the driver has to act on that, and many on the road won't. It's a sort of "if I could just get another 100 yards..." attitude.

Todd

 

[Micheal]

More news

1.All OC Transpo drivers were notified that the car was in that lane prior to the accident.

2.There was nothing wrong with the bus.

3.Criminal charges are pending.

The Sun has learned that at about 10:50 a.m., less than 10 minutes before the fatal crash, OC Transpo dispatched a radio warning to drivers that there was a car waiting for a tow truck in the bus lane along Hwy. 174.
"Drivers from OC Transpo were aware of this vehicle on the side of the road," said a woman who heard the dispatch on a No. 2 bus bound for Blair Rd. "The dispatcher told (them) to avoid and go around this car that was waiting."

The quote from last nights news cast was that

"Serious criminal charges are pending"

 

[Micheal]

If the driver of a motor vehicle runs into a stationary object, it's the driver's fault. There isn't a whole lot of room for discussion on that.

Exactly! Some people don't seem to understand this.