The Oregonian reports that a Portland auto accident involving a car and a Tri-Met bus recently sent two people to the hospital with what authorities described as “minor injuries.”
Citing a spokesperson for the Portland-area bus service, the newspaper reports that the accident recently occurred “at Southeast 7th Avenue and Southeast Taylor Street. She said the vehicle, carrying three people, is believed to have been traveling at a high speed when the driver failed to stop and struck the bus on its left side.”
Both of the injured people transported to hospital were traveling in the car. The bus driver was not injured and the bus, which was traveling to a Tri-Met garage at the time of the Oregon car and bus accident, was carrying no passengers. That last fact is fortunate: it is likely that the lack of passengers minimized the potential damage from the Portland car crash.
Considering the amount of bad news we have all read about Tri-Met over the last few years it is also, in a way, useful to be reminded that crashes involving Tri-Met vehicles can be the fault of reckless of negligent drivers of cars or trucks. Just because a bus was involved does not mean the bus operator bears the brunt of the responsibility.
The fact that there were no passengers aboard at the time of this particular accident might also cause us to lose sight of another important fact surrounding Oregon bus crashes: when another vehicle is involved and passengers traveling on a bus are injured it is important to consider all of the circumstances surrounding the accident. A Portland car and bus crash lawyer can will advise clients to look at all of the relevant information when considering where to turn to achieve justice for injuries suffered on the road.
The Oregonian: Two injured after car crashes into bus in SE Portland