Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Minivan vs. Bus

Minivan loses, but worse is that a three year old in the back of the minivan is killed. The father, driving, is basically unhurt.

This story caught my eye because it happened in the morning on the road I take to get to work when I stopping by the grocery store to pick up breakfast fruit.

The sad thing is that there is a right lane that the school bus could have used to pass the stopped minivan. I checked it today, it's about 3/4s clear of snow. More than enough to be visible and usable.

The morning news said that the bus was going 45mph at the time of the impact. The speed limit at that point is 55mph, but there is a 4-way stop sign a few hundred yards from the impact point. I'm guessing that means that the school bus driver stopped at the stop sign, and then never stopped accelerating until he hit the minivan. There certainly weren't any skid marks on the road this morning.

If the child had been in the front seat, he might have lived. But that puts him at danger in a head-on collision, which are the more frequent types of collisions. The father should have been watching his rear view mirror (I know I do whenever I'm stopped in a lane of traffic on a 55mph road). Shoulda, woulda, coulda, and a three year old is dead and I have to be reminded by painted outlines on the road as I drive to work.

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