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CTA Accidents


garmon757

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Im always curious as to why a lot of times a CTA is involved in some sort of collision with other vehicles, the bus often times slam into a building. In this latest incident the bus couldnt have possibly been speeding, especially during the pandemic when bus ridership is nearly zero!....and traffic is extremely light now. A good operator can maintain control of their vehicle in a collision. Ive responded to many accidents over the years  A CTA bus is usually traveling on average about 30 mph or less considering how bad traffic is on average in this city. There's just no possible way a bus after a collision can end up in a building causing so much destruction. That can only be done if one of the factors was speed and obviously the weight of the vehicle. Im wondering what the investigation will find. But it seems CTA operators have a history of this. There's been quite a few accidents in recent years similar to these. One recent was at 69th/Ashland when a NB Ashland bus collided with a van. Again, another building was involved. One I can recall many years ago which still leaves me stumped. involved a 6200 series Flxible that slammed into a house somewhere on Cottage Grove around 103rd. In that accident, the bus drove into a house which was far away from the intersection where the accident originally happened. The bus would have had to be traveling at a high rate of speed  to cause so much damage which it did. That incident left a gaping hole on the side of the building. The bus was nearly halfway inside the building. In my eyes it leaves me sometimes with more questions than answers. The Michigan ave accident that killed one woman involving NF #4167. That operator was speeding, striking thee vehicles plus running a red light and slamming into the sidewalk. theres no doubt CTA has some serious training issues. Lots of pedestrians have been struck by buses and in most cases the bus ran a red light. But Im left wondering why most CTA bus accidents end up inside buildings.  

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1 hour ago, CTA5750 said:

Im always curious as to why a lot of times a CTA is involved in some sort of collision with other vehicles, the bus often times slam into a building. In this latest incident the bus couldnt have possibly been speeding, especially during the pandemic when bus ridership is nearly zero!....and traffic is extremely light now. A good operator can maintain control of their vehicle in a collision. Ive responded to many accidents over the years  A CTA bus is usually traveling on average about 30 mph or less considering how bad traffic is on average in this city. There's just no possible way a bus after a collision can end up in a building causing so much destruction. That can only be done if one of the factors was speed and obviously the weight of the vehicle. Im wondering what the investigation will find. But it seems CTA operators have a history of this. There's been quite a few accidents in recent years similar to these. One recent was at 69th/Ashland when a NB Ashland bus collided with a van. Again, another building was involved. One I can recall many years ago which still leaves me stumped. involved a 6200 series Flxible that slammed into a house somewhere on Cottage Grove around 103rd. In that accident, the bus drove into a house which was far away from the intersection where the accident originally happened. The bus would have had to be traveling at a high rate of speed  to cause so much damage which it did. That incident left a gaping hole on the side of the building. The bus was nearly halfway inside the building. In my eyes it leaves me sometimes with more questions than answers. Im left wondering why most CTA bus accidents end up inside buildings.  

last nights crash the car was going high rate of speed so the driver of 1925 probably tired to swerve and it didn’t work so the hard hit the bus took make it push onto the sidewalk and into a bank windows 

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1 hour ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

last nights crash the car was going high rate of speed so the driver of 1925 probably tired to swerve and it didn’t work so the hard hit the bus took make it push onto the sidewalk and into a bank windows 

 

2 hours ago, CTA5750 said:

Im always curious as to why a lot of times a CTA is involved in some sort of collision with other vehicles, the bus often times slam into a building. In this latest incident the bus couldnt have possibly been speeding, especially during the pandemic when bus ridership is nearly zero!....and traffic is extremely light now. A good operator can maintain control of their vehicle in a collision. Ive responded to many accidents over the years  A CTA bus is usually traveling on average about 30 mph or less considering how bad traffic is on average in this city. There's just no possible way a bus after a collision can end up in a building causing so much destruction. That can only be done if one of the factors was speed and obviously the weight of the vehicle. Im wondering what the investigation will find. But it seems CTA operators have a history of this. There's been quite a few accidents in recent years similar to these. One recent was at 69th/Ashland when a NB Ashland bus collided with a van. Again, another building was involved. One I can recall many years ago which still leaves me stumped. involved a 6200 series Flxible that slammed into a house somewhere on Cottage Grove around 103rd. In that accident, the bus drove into a house which was far away from the intersection where the accident originally happened. The bus would have had to be traveling at a high rate of speed  to cause so much damage which it did. That incident left a gaping hole on the side of the building. The bus was nearly halfway inside the building. In my eyes it leaves me sometimes with more questions than answers. The Michigan ave accident that killed one woman involving NF #4167. That operator was speeding, striking thee vehicles plus running a red light and slamming into the sidewalk. theres no doubt CTA has some serious training issues. Lots of pedestrians have been struck by buses and in most cases the bus ran a red light. But Im left wondering why most CTA bus accidents end up inside buildings.  

Just the hard hit & momentum of a car along with the driver trying to avoid the crash makes that happen

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1 minute ago, Shannoncvpi said:

 

Just the hard hit & momentum of a car along with the driver trying to avoid the crash makes that happen

Not always! The bus weighs more than the van. There is time for the bus to stop. Im going to assume given the time of the incident that the bus was not speeding. A heavier vehicle in most cases involved in a collision usually comes to a safe stop in a crash.    

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2 hours ago, CTA5750 said:

Im always curious as to why a lot of times a CTA is involved in some sort of collision with other vehicles, the bus often times slam into a building. In this latest incident the bus couldnt have possibly been speeding, especially during the pandemic when bus ridership is nearly zero!....and traffic is extremely light now. A good operator can maintain control of their vehicle in a collision. Ive responded to many accidents over the years  A CTA bus is usually traveling on average about 30 mph or less considering how bad traffic is on average in this city. There's just no possible way a bus after a collision can end up in a building causing so much destruction. That can only be done if one of the factors was speed and obviously the weight of the vehicle. Im wondering what the investigation will find. But it seems CTA operators have a history of this. There's been quite a few accidents in recent years similar to these. One recent was at 69th/Ashland when a NB Ashland bus collided with a van. Again, another building was involved. One I can recall many years ago which still leaves me stumped. involved a 6200 series Flxible that slammed into a house somewhere on Cottage Grove around 103rd. In that accident, the bus drove into a house which was far away from the intersection where the accident originally happened. The bus would have had to be traveling at a high rate of speed  to cause so much damage which it did. That incident left a gaping hole on the side of the building. The bus was nearly halfway inside the building. In my eyes it leaves me sometimes with more questions than answers. The Michigan ave accident that killed one woman involving NF #4167. That operator was speeding, striking thee vehicles plus running a red light and slamming into the sidewalk. theres no doubt CTA has some serious training issues. Lots of pedestrians have been struck by buses and in most cases the bus ran a red light. But Im left wondering why most CTA bus accidents end up inside buildings.  

You being a former CTA driver and a bus operator should know better.  Many things can contribute to a bus winding up in a building.  These are buildings that are close to the street and the sidewalks aren't more than 10 ft wide.  That amount of space can be covered in a millisecond even at 15 mph.

Imagine you are standing still and someone next to you pushes you.  You might move a little bit if at all.  Now imagine walking and the same thing happens.  You lose your balance, but at this slow speed,  you can regain it without falling.  Now imagine running and getting pushed.  If you watch football,  a player may or may not lose his balance,  but his momentum after the push may take him out of bounds.  Plus with the weight of the bus, it won't stop on the dime.  Slamming on brakes can cause brakes to lock up, then you  have no control.  If a driver keeps his steering wheel straight pointing forward, and he gets hit putting the bus at angle, the bus will roll forward at the angle it was pushed.  Once the bus jumps the curb, its over.

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8 minutes ago, CTA5750 said:

Not always! The bus weighs more than the van. There is time for the bus to stop. Im going to assume given the time of the incident that the bus was not speeding. A heavier vehicle in most cases involved in a collision usually comes to a safe stop in a crash.    

The smaller vehicle is lighter and hitting a much heavier vehicle will slow its momentum drastically.  Not speeding isn't crawling.  Not speeding only means not above the speed limit.

In the 69th crash,  the bus stop I believe is a far side stop.  I can imagine the driver crossing the light already angling towards the curb.  After getting hit, the bus is now ready at angle.  The driver hits the brakes,  but by being so close to the curb. The bus jumps the curb and hits the building.  

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1 hour ago, artthouwill said:

The smaller vehicle is lighter and hitting a much heavier vehicle will slow its momentum drastically.  Not speeding isn't crawling.  Not speeding only means not above the speed limit.

In the 69th crash,  the bus stop I believe is a far side stop.  I can imagine the driver crossing the light already angling towards the curb.  After getting hit, the bus is now ready at angle.  The driver hits the brakes,  but by being so close to the curb. The bus jumps the curb and hits the building.  

I was gonna add in that newer buses themselves are lighter. CTA5750 may have a point on control but buses back when they were an operator were heavier.

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3 hours ago, CTA5750 said:

Not always! The bus weighs more than the van. There is time for the bus to stop. Im going to assume given the time of the incident that the bus was not speeding. A heavier vehicle in most cases involved in a collision usually comes to a safe stop in a crash.    

Yea I was just talking bout the force that hit the bus

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16 hours ago, Sam92 said:

I was gonna add in that newer buses themselves are lighter. CTA5750 may have a point on control but buses back when they were an operator were heavier.

A standard 40ft transit bus today, weighs in empty at around 39,500lbs  The bus designs may have changed considerably but the weight measurements have not. Theyre still very heavy vehicles. Speed is no doubt one of the huge factors that will dictate how much damage a commercial vehicle will inflict in a collision.   

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13 minutes ago, CTA5750 said:

A standard 40ft transit bus today, weighs in empty at around 39,500lbs  The bus designs may have changed considerably but the weight measurements have not. Theyre still very heavy vehicles. Speed is no doubt one of the huge factors that will dictate how much damage a commercial vehicle will inflict in a collision.   

True that

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19 hours ago, artthouwill said:

You being a former CTA driver and a bus operator should know better.  Many things can contribute to a bus winding up in a building.  These are buildings that are close to the street and the sidewalks aren't more than 10 ft wide.  That amount of space can be covered in a millisecond even at 15 mph.

Imagine you are standing still and someone next to you pushes you.  You might move a little bit if at all.  Now imagine walking and the same thing happens.  You lose your balance, but at this slow speed,  you can regain it without falling.  Now imagine running and getting pushed.  If you watch football,  a player may or may not lose his balance,  but his momentum after the push may take him out of bounds.  Plus with the weight of the bus, it won't stop on the dime.  Slamming on brakes can cause brakes to lock up, then you  have no control.  If a driver keeps his steering wheel straight pointing forward, and he gets hit putting the bus at angle, the bus will roll forward at the angle it was pushed.  Once the bus jumps the curb, its over.

I do know better!  Ive had training in this area.  Iv responded to many traffic accidents large and small vehicles. Im not disputing what your saying.  But If you want to use football players or different sized humans an example....Remember one thing!!!....Football players weights are nearly or at equal!  So when you talk momentum...... of course a player will travel some distance after getting hit.  A bigger person person pushing a smaller person!  There will be differences in the amount of force. But when you compare a car/van with a transit coach bus or truck, vehicles nearly three times its weight..... It would take a lot of force for that bus to end up inside a building. A car or van would have to traveling at 70-80 mph to seriously cause a transit bus to run out of control. 

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19 hours ago, artthouwill said:

The smaller vehicle is lighter and hitting a much heavier vehicle will slow its momentum drastically.  Not speeding isn't crawling.  Not speeding only means not above the speed limit.

In the 69th crash,  the bus stop I believe is a far side stop.  I can imagine the driver crossing the light already angling towards the curb.  After getting hit, the bus is now ready at angle.  The driver hits the brakes,  but by being so close to the curb. The bus jumps the curb and hits the building.  

I'm not sure if you saw the video but that bus wasn't angling in towards the curve because the operator was in the second lane when the crash occurred, which means that during that time of the morning it was a pull out run and several routes out of 74th during that time frame use Ashland for there pull out runs. The bus was going fast but the car that hit it was going twice as fast if not faster for the bus to spin out the way it did 360 degrees nearly towards the southbound lanes of the street into the former currency exchange and fat alberts restaurant. Momentum and the laws of physics can work in strange ways at times even during auto accidents. Sudden hits to anyone would make you lose control of your vehicle no matter how long you've been driving.

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41 minutes ago, CTA5750 said:

I do know better!  Ive had training in this area.  Iv responded to many traffic accidents large and small vehicles. Im not disputing what your saying.  But If you want to use football players or different sized humans an example....Remember one thing!!!....Football players weights are nearly or at equal!  So when you talk momentum...... of course a player will travel some distance after getting hit.  A bigger person person pushing a smaller person!  There will be differences in the amount of force. But when you compare a car/van with a transit coach bus or truck, vehicles nearly three times its weight..... It would take a lot of force for that bus to end up inside a building. A car or van would have to traveling at 70-80 mph to seriously cause a transit bus to run out of control. 

See @YoungBusLover's post. 

Back in my football analogy.   Even a small safety can push a big tight end enough to make the TE lose his balance and run or fall out of bounds if the Safety is running as fast or faster than the TE and he pushes him from the side.  

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3 hours ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

Speaking of accidents, here's a dumb little video I made inspired by a meme going around the NYC Transit community.  Hope everyone on here is doing good during this pandemic.

I've been on two moving trains when some idiot forced the doors open & jumped onto the platform from the moving train.   Once was on an A train at Harrison [which was a B station then], this nut jumped out, fell down & rolled into one of the steel pillars.  The second was on a NB Howard train at the old main Wilson platform.  Two idiots did that & one crashed into one of the posts holding up a light fixture at the north end of the platform.  I guess they survived, they were all young & really stupid!

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11 minutes ago, strictures said:

I've been on two moving trains when some idiot forced the doors open & jumped onto the platform from the moving train.   Once was on an A train at Harrison [which was a B station then], this nut jumped out, fell down & rolled into one of the steel pillars.  The second was on a NB Howard train at the old main Wilson platform.  Two idiots did that & one crashed into one of the posts holding up a light fixture at the north end of the platform.  I guess they survived, they were all young & really stupid!

That's nuts.  Sometimes you have teens opening the middle door of the last car and "subway surf".  I've seen that even on YouTube in random CTA video

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5 hours ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

Speaking of accidents, here's a dumb little video I made inspired by a meme going around the NYC Transit community.  Hope everyone on here is doing good during this pandemic.

I see that one video of the guy hopping out at 47th all the time ?

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4 hours ago, Pace831 said:

CBS: Driver of car that hit CTA bus on Thursday faces DUI and other charges.

Good I hate people who wants to drive drunk or high like bro it's not that serious if I know I'm about to drink or smoke which I am not a big drinker or  barely smoke weed mostly blacks & cigars I'm in the house done driving if I know I'm about to feel good 

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https://abc7chicago.com/cta-red-line-disruption-dan-ryan-shutdown-person-on-the-tracks-79th-street/6145672/

So, just to give you an idea of how much back-up this guy caused: My grandmother got on a 95 at 93rd/Western and I got on a 386 at 75th/Harlem around ~4:40p. I took the 386 > Orange Line > Green Line > 3 (Garfield to 76th) > Walked, and got home at 6:30p. She took the 95 > 3 and didn't get home until 6:45p. I actually spotted her NB 3 w/o realizing when I got off the bus around 6:15p, somewhere around 81st or so. Traffic on King Dr was horrendous from Anthony head south. SB Dan Ryan was completely red from Garfield to 83rd and NB Dan Ryan was completely red from 87th to 103rd (I-57) and 107th (Bishop Ford) when I checked around 5:30p.

Station manager at Roosevelt on the intercom was urging Red Line passengers to take the 3, 4, 29 or Green Line. Red Line trains were also suspended south of Garfield. According to my grandmother, drivers were letting passengers in through the front and back at the same time on the 95 and the 3.

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21 hours ago, Pace831 said:

CBS: Driver of car that hit CTA bus on Thursday faces DUI and other charges.

 

5 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

A DUI? Damn, haven't seen that in a bus driver for a minute

The DUI was issued to the driver of the car, not to the driver of the bus.

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