The family of a California tourist who was killed in September when a Metrobus hit the family’s taxi is suing the transit agency.
The $100 million lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court, claims Metro was negligent when the “rookie” bus driver ran a red light.
The crash occurred as Metro had been trying to improve its safety record. The system’s general manager, John Catoe, pledged to improve safety when he started in January 2007, shortly after several Metro workers were killed on its rail lines. In the first month of his tenure, two Metrobus accidents killed three pedestrians.
The crash at the heart of the latest lawsuit occurred Sept. 26, the last day of the Tabor family’s trip to the region.
Barlett Tabor, 55, his wife, Katherine, and their two children, ages 10 and 9, were riding in a minivan taxi to a hotel near Washington Dulles International Airport to catch their return flight the next day to their home in Alamo, Calif.
The taxi was headed south on 19th Street Northwest around 8:15 p.m. when a Metrobus ran a red light on Virginia Avenue Northwest and sent the taxi spinning, according to the suit,
All the Tabors, plus the bus and taxi drivers, were injured. Barlett Tabor, a senior vice president of Capmark Financial Group, later died of his injuries.
The bus driver, whom the lawsuit names as Ronald Taylor, was fired after a preliminary investigation determined that he violated several of Metro’s safe-driving procedures, according to the transit agency. Taylor had been hired in March and began driving buses in May.
Metro declined to discuss the lawsuit, saying it does not discuss ongoing litigation. “That being said,” Metro spokeswoman Angela Gates said in an e-mail, “any accident that involves the loss of life is a tragedy, and Metro is committed to doing everything possible to prevent accidents like this from happening again.”
Since the crash, Gates said, Metro has stiffened the penalties for drivers who violate traffic infractions, reducing the number of violations needed for dismissal.
Metro requires bus drivers to obey all traffic laws, conduct routine safety inspections of their buses and report hazardous road conditions. Metro follows up with area transportation officials to fix such road hazards. Metro officials also are considering using GPS devices to monitor bus drivers, Gates said.
[email protected]
