Tiger Transit Crash: The Auburn City police report indicates last Wednesday’s Tiger Transit accident occurred when the transit driver swerved to miss a cyclist. KRISTIN OBERHOLZER / Photo Staff
Serious accident numbers remain low, but fender-benders reported often
A crowd of gawking students and onlookers gathered around the latest Tiger Transit accident last Wednesday around 11:30 a.m.
The driver, 71-year-old John Batchelor of Loachapoka, told Auburn City police he was driving his East Campus route bus around Foy Circle when he noticed a cyclist entering the crosswalk in front of him.
According to the police report, Batchelor “attempted to press the brakes but may have pushed the accelerator.”
The bus plowed through an aluminum fence along the sidewalk of Thach Avenue and struck a tree head-on.
Batchelor was the only person on the bus and was transported to East Alabama Medical Center where he was treated for minor injuries and was released later that day.
The 2009-model bus sustained damages to the grill and left side and was towed from the scene shortly after.
The cyclist told police the bus driver stopped to let him cross the road, but as the cyclist entered the crosswalk, the bus began to accelerate forward and then swerved to avoid him.
Frank Jordan, a sophomore in business, witnessed the accident from the sidewalk where he was standing with his bicycle.
Jordan said he saw the driver swerve to miss the cyclist in the crosswalk, veer onto the sidewalk and strike the fence and tree.
“He came within 10 feet of me,” Jordan said. “Everyone was saying, ‘Look out!’”
Drew Steverson, a freshman in aerospace engineering, also observed the damage from the accident.
“It makes me wonder how fast he was going that he hit the fence and the tree,” Steverson said.
But now, more than a week since the accident, students are still questioning the safety record of Tiger Transit.
David George, director of Transit and Parking Services, said he keeps daily communications with Clarence Cobb, the operational manager of Groome Transportation, the private company contracted by the University to provide the transit services.
George also said the University keeps records of all accidents and safety check-ups.
“We know of all the accidents we’ve had,” George said. “Since 2005, we haven’t had an accident chargeable to (Groome.) We’ve had individuals back into (buses) though, especially at complexes.”
Tiger Transit Crash Scene: KRISTIN OBERHOLZER / Photo Staff
George said the Transit and Parking Services office has safety meetings every month with drivers.
Drivers are given random drug and alcohol tests, and all have passed vision tests and hold commercial driver’s licenses.
When a Tiger Transit driver is involved in an accident, George said the driver’s punishment depends on the type of accident that happened.
“If a driver runs a red light and hits a car, then there would be severe punishment, quite possibly dismissal,” George said. “But it’s done through Groome, and they usually talk to us about it before they make that call.”
Groome is required by the University to carry liability insurance of a certain amount for its buses.
George said if a transit bus is responsible for an accident, Groome’s insurance covers the costs, not the University.
As for last week’s accident, Rex Huffman, manager of Transit Services, said Batchelor has not been involved in an accident for several years.
Batchelor’s last accident, which Huffman said happened several years ago, was the other driver’s fault.
“He’s a very safe driver,” Huffman said.
George agrees with Huffman’s view of Batchelor.
“Batchelor is a good driver, and I’m not going to comment on his accident,” George said.
Huffman said Wednesday’s accident is the first of its kind in years.
“The majority of our accidents are when somebody hits the bus, not the other way around,” Huffman said. “Most of our accidents are not driver related.”
Batchelor returned to work yesterday.
Huffman said all transit drivers are trained to watch for pedestrians and cyclists.
“There are a lot of bikes and a lot of things you have to be aware of,” Huffman said. “That’s something we emphasize with the driver — it’s always a hazardous place.”
Lowell Brown, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, was one of the many onlookers who gathered to take in the scene.
Brown said the accident would not keep him from riding the transit.
“It makes me feel safer as a pedestrian,” Brown said. “I’d rather the driver hit a fence than hit me.”
Despite the few accidents, which occasionally draw attention to transit and pedestrian safety, George emphasizes the Transit is a safe service which students depend on.
George said from January-August 2008 1,235,182 students have used the transit, and he expects this year’s total to surpass 2007’s 2,077,714 record.
“Tiger Transit is a good thing for the students,” George said. “It really is. A lot of students depend on Tiger Transit, and we try to run it to the best of our abilities.”
September 25, 2008 - 11:06am
If you'll look back to the
If you'll look back to the mid-late 90s right after the buses came to campus I believe you'll find an accident that resulted in a fatality. I want to say it was on the part of Thach that once passed in front of Parker.September 25, 2008 - 11:40am
Correction
Roosevelt passes in front of Parker.September 29, 2008 - 3:41pm
Bus Fatality
I believe it was 1997 or 98 when we still had the old school buses. It was between Jordan-Hare and the baseball field headed towards the old CDV Extension. That same lady who killed the student drove my bus everyday b/w the Extension and Haley.