Bus drivers' union raises red flag on blind spots after pedestrian death
'We have significant issues with blind spots on our buses'
The fatal collision this week between an Edmonton transit bus and an 83-year-old pedestrian is raising renewed concerns about blind spots that interfere with the driver's view.
"We have a significant issue with blind spots on our buses," said Steve Bradshaw, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 569, which represents ETS drivers in Edmonton.
Bradshaw described a structural pillar — called the A pillar — located to the left of where a bus driver sits. The rearview mirror is attached to it.
"These make a massive blind spot for our operators, made worse when a driver is making a left-hand turn," Bradshaw said Thursday.
"We talk about bobbing and weaving to get the full line of sight. While that's a solution that can work, it sometimes fails, too. Sometimes you move closer to the mirror to do that, to get a rearview look, and it actually makes that blind spot bigger … further away, it gets smaller."
The issue has been an ongoing one for transit operators and the union, which has recorded information on the dimensions of these pillars and the effects on a driver's blind spot.
Bradshaw said bus manufacturers recognize there's a problem, and that many buses in Europe have virtually eliminated the blind spot created by the A-pillar.
"We are asking the transit [operators] to pressure the manufacturer to get rid of that pillar or to reduce it to the point where it's not a significant blind spot."
Collision still under investigation
The 83-year-old woman who died was struck while crossing 87th Avenue and 169th Street in a marked crosswalk on Tuesday.
Witnesses described the woman walking slowly across the avenue from the north curb to the south curb when she was struck by a bus that was turning left onto the avenue after heading north on 169th Street.
The collision remains under investigation. No charges have been laid.
Bradshaw said the driver has been "deeply, deeply traumatized" by the collision.
Eddie Robar, branch manager of ETS, said blind spot issue has been an on-going discussion with the union, raised as recently as last month.
The department is considering modifications to current buses, which could include moving the location of the mirror that is attached to the problematic pillar.
It will also consider better bus design as it adds an expected 80 to 120 new vehicles to the fleet over the next couple of years.
"With any new vehicle we purchase we're looking at the latest technology and putting the safest vehicle on the road," Robar said. "New engineering designs come out all the time that mitigate issues we've had in the past so we would take advantage of all of those engineering designs of the future."
The department will conduct a review of this week's fatal collision following the police investigation, but said it's too early to know exactly what caused it.
"These are tragic situations and any time we can learn from them, we have to learn from them."
There have been six pedestrian fatalities involving an ETS bus since 1992.
-with files from Lydia Neufeld