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07-15-10, 08:44 AM
Fortunately no incident this time, just the makings of........
DENVER - An RTD bus driver apparently drove around a closed gate and ignored "Do Not Enter" signs before driving against the flow of traffic in an HOV lane on Interstate 25 Wednesday morning.
Commuters tell 9Wants to Know Investigator Kyle Clark that southbound drivers were swerving to avoid the bus which barreled by northbound, its driver apparently oblivious to the error.
"You could see everyone swinging to the side," driver Holly Nickerson said. "It just zoomed right by."
Nickerson says traffic was able to merge into one of the HOV lanes to avoid the oncoming bus and that saved a head-on crash that could have killed her and her carpool passenger, Carolyn Kelley.
"We would have folded up," Kelley said. "That's frightening."
RTD spokesman Scott Reed says the driver, who has been pulled from driving duty, apparently became confused at the 16th Street Mall Ride turnaround behind Union Station around 5:30 a.m.
Drug and alcohol tests were performed, per standard procedure, but the results were not available by Wednesday afternoon, RTD said.
"This was a very serious incident," Reed said.
He acknowledged that the driver's error could have caused several deaths.
"We were very fortunate in this situation, but it's something we're extremely concerned about," Reed said.
The driver, who was not named by RTD, illegally entered the HOV lane at Union Station and travelled approximately three and a half miles north against the flow of traffic before being stopped near 58th Avenue, Reed said.
RTD says another RTD driver on I-25 noticed the wrong-way bus and radioed dispatchers who ordered the bus to stop. The wrong-way driver was met by a supervisor and taken off the bus, according to RTD.
RTD says its investigation into what happened could be finished by Thursday. The driver is an employee of RTD, but at this time it is unclear how long he has worked for the company. Reed says termination is one of the possible outcomes for the driver.
The Denver Post reports the driver is on investigative suspension.
Denver Police and the Colorado State Patrol said they had received reports of the wrong-way bus, but officers were unable to locate it before it left the HOV lane. No citations were issued.
The HOV ramp for RTD buses at Union Station closes for northbound traffic from 5 a.m. until noon. The driver apparently maneuvered the extended-length bus past a closed gate and drove past two signs warning bus drivers of the closure.
RTD says it will re-examine those safety measures, but admitted that the cause of the incident was likely human error, little consolation to commuters who had a close call.
"I'm kind of afraid that people that are driving the buses aren't paying attention," Kelley said. "I'm glad I'm alive."
RTD reviewed safe driving procedures with its drivers after a series of deaths involving RTD buses in April.
An RTD driver faces criminal charges for an April 3 crash that killed two people in Denver. Two days later, a pedestrian died when he was hit by an RTD bus in Aurora. It was later determined the man was intoxicated and may have stepped in front of the bus.
A bicyclist in Lafayette was struck and killed by an RTD bus on April 6 and on June 6, an RTD bus driver hit and killed a bicyclist on Denver's 16th Street Mall. That driver later resigned.
Reed says the recent remedial safety training did not include instruction on how to drive in the correct direction in HOV lanes because that's "general" information that should be known by bus drivers.
He acknowledged that RTD needs to convince the public that it operates safely.
"We think, overall, we do have a good record but we are working very hard to regain that trust and reestablish that long standing safety record we've had," Reed said.
Nickerson had a blunt message for RTD.
"You training isn't effective if things like this continue to happen," Nickerson said, expressing doubt that the incident would impact RTD's safety procedures.
"I don't think anything will happen," Nickerson said. "They've had a history lately of unfortunate incidents."
Her passenger echoed that thought.
"Given the history and the past few months, I'm kind of concerned," Kelley said.
The 9Wants to Know investigators learned about this incident through a news tip. If you have more information about this story or a tip you'd like Kyle Clark to check out, e-mail kyle.clark@9news.com.
(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=143717&catid=339
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Do_Not_Enter_sign.svg/600px-Do_Not_Enter_sign.svg.png
DENVER - An RTD bus driver apparently drove around a closed gate and ignored "Do Not Enter" signs before driving against the flow of traffic in an HOV lane on Interstate 25 Wednesday morning.
Commuters tell 9Wants to Know Investigator Kyle Clark that southbound drivers were swerving to avoid the bus which barreled by northbound, its driver apparently oblivious to the error.
"You could see everyone swinging to the side," driver Holly Nickerson said. "It just zoomed right by."
Nickerson says traffic was able to merge into one of the HOV lanes to avoid the oncoming bus and that saved a head-on crash that could have killed her and her carpool passenger, Carolyn Kelley.
"We would have folded up," Kelley said. "That's frightening."
RTD spokesman Scott Reed says the driver, who has been pulled from driving duty, apparently became confused at the 16th Street Mall Ride turnaround behind Union Station around 5:30 a.m.
Drug and alcohol tests were performed, per standard procedure, but the results were not available by Wednesday afternoon, RTD said.
"This was a very serious incident," Reed said.
He acknowledged that the driver's error could have caused several deaths.
"We were very fortunate in this situation, but it's something we're extremely concerned about," Reed said.
The driver, who was not named by RTD, illegally entered the HOV lane at Union Station and travelled approximately three and a half miles north against the flow of traffic before being stopped near 58th Avenue, Reed said.
RTD says another RTD driver on I-25 noticed the wrong-way bus and radioed dispatchers who ordered the bus to stop. The wrong-way driver was met by a supervisor and taken off the bus, according to RTD.
RTD says its investigation into what happened could be finished by Thursday. The driver is an employee of RTD, but at this time it is unclear how long he has worked for the company. Reed says termination is one of the possible outcomes for the driver.
The Denver Post reports the driver is on investigative suspension.
Denver Police and the Colorado State Patrol said they had received reports of the wrong-way bus, but officers were unable to locate it before it left the HOV lane. No citations were issued.
The HOV ramp for RTD buses at Union Station closes for northbound traffic from 5 a.m. until noon. The driver apparently maneuvered the extended-length bus past a closed gate and drove past two signs warning bus drivers of the closure.
RTD says it will re-examine those safety measures, but admitted that the cause of the incident was likely human error, little consolation to commuters who had a close call.
"I'm kind of afraid that people that are driving the buses aren't paying attention," Kelley said. "I'm glad I'm alive."
RTD reviewed safe driving procedures with its drivers after a series of deaths involving RTD buses in April.
An RTD driver faces criminal charges for an April 3 crash that killed two people in Denver. Two days later, a pedestrian died when he was hit by an RTD bus in Aurora. It was later determined the man was intoxicated and may have stepped in front of the bus.
A bicyclist in Lafayette was struck and killed by an RTD bus on April 6 and on June 6, an RTD bus driver hit and killed a bicyclist on Denver's 16th Street Mall. That driver later resigned.
Reed says the recent remedial safety training did not include instruction on how to drive in the correct direction in HOV lanes because that's "general" information that should be known by bus drivers.
He acknowledged that RTD needs to convince the public that it operates safely.
"We think, overall, we do have a good record but we are working very hard to regain that trust and reestablish that long standing safety record we've had," Reed said.
Nickerson had a blunt message for RTD.
"You training isn't effective if things like this continue to happen," Nickerson said, expressing doubt that the incident would impact RTD's safety procedures.
"I don't think anything will happen," Nickerson said. "They've had a history lately of unfortunate incidents."
Her passenger echoed that thought.
"Given the history and the past few months, I'm kind of concerned," Kelley said.
The 9Wants to Know investigators learned about this incident through a news tip. If you have more information about this story or a tip you'd like Kyle Clark to check out, e-mail kyle.clark@9news.com.
(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=143717&catid=339
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Do_Not_Enter_sign.svg/600px-Do_Not_Enter_sign.svg.png