By News-Register staff • 

Transit bus involved in three-vehicle crash

Marcus Larson/News-Register##The aftermath of Tuesday s three-vehicle crash.
Marcus Larson/News-Register##The aftermath of Tuesday's three-vehicle crash.
Marcus Larson / News-Register##A tractor-trailer rig, a small sedan and a YCTA bus collided about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in northeast McMinnville.
Marcus Larson / News-Register##A tractor-trailer rig, a small sedan and a YCTA bus collided about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in northeast McMinnville.

No serious injuries were reported Tuesday afternoon as the result of a three-vehicle crash on North Highway 99W in front of the Big 5 Sporting Goods store.

McMinnville police gave this account:

About 12:30 p.m., an El Dorado Yamhill County Transit Area bus, driven by Reginald Steens, 54, of McMinnville, was stopped loading and unloading passengers at a designated stop in the southbound lane.

A 2001 Peterbilt tractor, operated by Bryce McKee, 31, of Amity, and a 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis, driven by Ruth Sauer, 90, of Dayton, collided prior to both crashing into the bus which contained five passengers. McKee and Sauer were alone.

All three drivers were wearing seatbelts. The incident involved a "coach class" bus, according to Patrol Sgt. Steve Macartney, and it is not equipped with passenger seatbelts. Some smaller buses or differently configured buses do have seatbelts, he said.

However, one of the passengers was in a mobility device that prevents movement inside the bus.

No citations were issued at the scene. The crash remains under investigation by McMinnville police. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information should contact Macartney at 435-5622 or Steve.Macartney@mcminnvilleoregon.gov .

The Oregon State Police and Oregon Department of Transportation assisted police. Yamhill County Transit Area officials also responded.

 

Comments

Bill B

I wondered how long before the Transit Area buses would cause an accident by stopping on a travel lane. Who decided that designated bus stops would be allowed to stop in traffic? On top of that there is no advance warning of an upcoming traffic stop.

Rumpelstilzchen

@Bill B:
Not getting out of town much, are you? Busses stop in travel lanes pretty much everywhere in the country and the world; dedicated pull-outs for bus-stops are the exception.

But that’s actually immaterial here; firstly, this bus was stopped on the shoulder of the turn lane to the right of the bike lane on 99W, not in the traffic lanes, and secondly, unless you can share information not contained in the article and photos, I see no indication that the bus had anything to do with the initial collision anyways.

Bill B

Thanks for the insult! Look at the photo; the bus is clearly in a travel lane. I would not consider 99 a city street and have never seen a bus (after living in 10 states) stop on the travel portion of a highway. Regardless of fault.

yamhillbilly2

Wow! Bill maybe you should look closer at the photo! It’ pretty clear the bus is on the shoulder to the right of the bike lane. Maybe your eyes aren’t working too well. Just to help with your lack of knowledge about busse stopping in highway travel lanes, try driving the TV highway from Forrest Grove to Hillsboro. The buses stop all along the right travel lane. So you’ve lived in 10 states and never saw this? Maybe your eyes didn’t work well then either. It seems pretty clear the bus was not a ‘cause’ of the accident by obstructing the travel lane.

Bill B

well it's true I've not lived in bumpkin land before.

Lulu

Bill B.--you supplied my first spontaneous laugh of the day.

BOCNEW

As I read the comments and as Past Commission Liasion to the Yamhill County Transit Area and to Transit, Users of the bus have lobbied over the past several years to have three bus stop locations which have potential safety issues involved prioritized. Those locations are the Walmart Exit Lane in front of Big 5 Sporting goods (where this accident occurred), the Southbound Adams stop across of Walgreens Pharmacy, and the Southbound Baker on Highway stop in front of Bi-Mart. All three of these locations have been identified as needed to be addressed in the new Transit Master Plan which was approved this morning by the Board of Commissioners which is available on YCTA website. A near term solution as listed in the plan will address the Big5/Winco/Walmart stop. Although the near and short term plans do not address Walgreens or Bimart stops and safety issues, modifications of all routes and the addition of routes is identified in the plan. My hope is that all changes where passenger and bus safety is inivolved will be prioritized and implemented early in the Plan. I would like to thank the Friends of the Bus and other organizations and individuals for their input into the plan. I would suggest that if you have an interest in Public Transit that you become familiar with the plan and contact any of the Commissioners or our Transit Manager Cynthia Thompson with any questions or comments that may make our Transit system better.

Web Design and Web Development by Buildable