DART bus driver hits pedestrian last Monday in downtown Des Moines sending the suffering walker to Iowa Methodist Medical Center for treatment of her injuries. This marks the seventh such bus pedestrian accident in two years involving DART prompting Iowa officials to enact two new rules.
Iowa personal injury lawyers alert:Des Moines Area Regional Transit issues new rules for DART bus drivers after another pedestrian accident.
Des Moines, IA–Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) started the week with bang when a transit bus driver struck another pedestrian in downtown Des Moines, on Monday, while making a left hand turn. As reported by the Des Moines Register, the bus sent the injured walker to Iowa Methodist Medical Center where she was admitted for treatment by doctors and nurses for her injuries. This marks the seventh bus versus pedestrian accident since July 2007 in downtown Des Moines involving DART commuter transport vehicles. The 7 a.m. bus accident sparked a series of events throughout the day with another lawsuit filed against DART, involving a bus-pedestrian accident in the fall of 2008, and further prompted two new rules to be placed in effect by DART officials.
The new rules include a temporary turn-and-honk policy, and a complete ban on left hand turns in the heart of Iowa’s capital city. All of this occurred less than a week after personal injury lawyers, representing DART and an injured pedestrian, reached a $2.74 million settlement agreement involving the plaintiff being struck by a city bus. The mulit-million dollar bus accident injury claim involved one of the other 7 pedestrians who have been hit by DART buses since July 2007. The new temporary Iowa capital city transit bus rules may have evolved from a Transit Cooperative Research Program study published in 2008 that showed bus collisions were most likely the commuter transport vehicles were turning at intersections. The study released, in a cooperative effort between the Research Program and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) also showed bus crashes involving pedestrians were most common while the buses were turning. Furthermore, of the accidents involving a turning bus, 69 percent were left hand turns, meaning left hand turn bus accidents involving pedestrians were the most common.
Iowa personal injury lawyer news for bus-pedestrian accident claims by legal news reporter, Heather L. Ryan.