I knew something was up when the helicopters were hovering over Van Nuys and Robert Blake wasn't on trial for anything.
An Orange Line bus and a pickup truck collided at Kester Avenue at 6:30 a.m. today. Here's the full story from Channel 4:
LOS ANGELES -- A Metro Orange Line bus and a pickup truck collided Thursday on a busway in Van Nuys, and two ambulances were sent to the scene, authorities said. Following the collision, aerial video showed that the bus ended up with its front end up against a building.
The ambulances were sent to Oxnard Street and Kester Avenue at 6:30 a.m., said Ron Myers of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The circumstances of the crash were under investigation. The collision is the latest involving the reticulated buses, which recently went into service along a limited-access roadway.
Channel 4 even has this image gallery.
- Three injuries.
Can't remember if I've blogged on this street before, but Kester Avenue between Victory Boulevard and Oxnard Street (the bus crosses just north of Oxnard) is one of the busiest, most unpredictible and dangerous stretches of roadway in the entire Valley. You have to drive it every day, know it and respect its capricious nature to avoid an accident. The area is at once heavily populated, crowded with auto repair shops, and a major crossing for trucks, cars, bicycles, strollers, darting children, and now giant buses.
We've called it the Valley's own "Paper Boy" game, for those familiar with the video-game equivalent.
You have to really watch out, drive cautiously and know anything can happen.
Still, the TRAFFIC LIGHT at the busway, which is clearly marked with a sign that says "Busway," makes it plain that YOU NEED TO STOP WHEN THE BUS IS COMING AND THE LIGHT IS RED.
1 comment:
I just watched a report on Channel 7 about the crash and the Bus Riders Union, who wants a 72-hour shutdown of the line for a top-to-bottom check of safety procedures. Someone from the group said that the buses' current silver color is the worst possible you can encounter on the road--it's the "color of fog."
I hope he catches the sheer irrelevance of that statement--and the need of a shutdown for a quote-unquote safety check--if I were to ask him, "well, what's the color of a red light?"
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