Metro bus accident awakens dark memories

The first reported injuries in an accident involving  the new Metro buses came in the early morning of Friday, July 8.

The first reported injuries in an accident involving  the new Metro buses came in the early morning of Thursday, July 8.

To date the new system has won praise from observers and other road users for the way  neatly dressed drivers have operated their buses, observing speed limits  giving signals, and stopping at pedestrian crossings. Most complaints have come from passengers missing the old days when diablos rojos stopped at every corner where  a potential passenger waiting, and the failure of air conditioning systems in buses where windows cannot be opened.

Three passengers on the route Los Andes-Corridor Norte  were hurt  in the accident on Martin Avenue Sosa-October 23, in La Cresta. A press release  from Mi Bus, the company operating the system, said they received medical attention.  The three injured were attended by 911 ambulance system.

Fifteen passengers were  traveling in the bus, which collided with a post. One woman interviewed on radio  said passengers were “horrified” when the electronically operated doors failed to open. The accident was on the same road where 18 people were burned to death when a bus caught fire. 

Insurance company personnel  were also there and,  the release said,   the company would make every effort to support  the injured.

People severely burned and relatives of those who died  in the previous accident on the same road on October 23, 2006,  were  denied compensation from the government with the courts ruling that the authorities had no responsibility for what happened. The driver and the owner of the bus were jailed for four years. At the time of the court decision, La Prensa wrote: “While the previous government and the present administration have striven to indemnify the owners of buses for their old junk vehicles, relatives of passengers who died or were burned in the fire don’t get a penny.”