City Worker Dies After Truck Struck By JTA Bus

[Steve]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A city traffic engineering technician died Tuesday afternoon after a Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus struck his bucket truck.

Police said the driver of the bus failed to see a flag man or the city truck at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Melson Street and struck the truck.

The impact knocked the technician out of the bucket. Police said the fall to the road killed the man, whose name has not been released.


http://www.news4jax.com/news/15703308/detail.html

[Jason]

Man, that is some sad news.

[reednavy]

Well hell! That really sucks.

[Midway ®]

That is very sad indeed. I am not sure about this, but I think that OSHA regulations require that a safety harness be worn to prevent this type of occurrence.

Unfortunately, the City operating agency (apparently) did not provide adequate personal protective equipment or training to the employee, which might have prevented this tragic occurrence.

[Midway ®]

I checked my OSHA handbook, and PPE (Safety harness and or fall arrestor) are required for aerial lift use, including bucket trucks.

I am not sure how this happened, but it definitely should be investigated and one of the focal points of that investigation should be to see if there is an effective safety plan in place at that agency.

And before that Mayor hires one of his consultants to create a safety plan for $687,000.00, heres one for free:

http://chapters.scte.org/cascade/SCTE%20Aerial%20Safety%20Presentation%203-2003.ppt

For the time being I will reserve judgment on this accident, but it really is a genuine tragedy when a person loses his life from a totally preventable accident. This type of occurrence is commonplace during the use of a bucket truck, and management should have had a program in place to prevent this. Not doing so would constitute gross negligence on their part.

My deepest sympathies to this man's family.

[Ocklawaha]

God bless his family... Sad indeed.

When the excrement hits the vent device, I hope the NTSB get in this and looks at this drivers Hours of Service log book. Did JSO test the driver? I've been hearing nightmares from the operating people of near slavery conditions on their service hours and lack of breaks etc... That's just plain illegal, and if their within the law, then it is straining the very relation with passengers they should be building on.

Ocklawaha

[Ocklawaha]

Midway has another great point. Why was the bucket truck guy not "Hooked up?" with a safety belt or line?

Still want JTA investigated.

Ocklawaha

[Driven1]

f@ckin stupid bus drivers...i know i have almost been taken out as a) a pedestrian and b) a driver more than once by these idiots.  if you must, forgive the anger, but it is well-placed.

[Midway ®]

And as for the bus driver, the JTA's training program should also be reviewed. The whole city is run in an unprofessional way that defies the usual norms of responsible functioning of all of the agencies, because the people in charge view it as their fiefdom, and thus run it as they see fit, which may not necessarily encourage the most efficient or safe methodologies. None of this is rocket science. It has all been done successfully before, elsewhere. All they need to do is put the interests of their constituents first, instead of the present situation, where their personal interests are placed ahead of everything.

[Seraphs]

This seems unbelieveable, unfortunately in this day and age it is seen all to often.  We have reached epidemic numbers of drivers not paying attention.  I feel the anger and rage expressed by some of the others.  This just seems so careless.  How do you not see a huge orange truck in an intersection.

[jbm32206]

It's a real shame, without a doubt. I also agree and have to wonder why the man was not hooked onto the safety line, I thought that was a must. Not to take away from the fact that the bus driver is at fault, but had he been hooked into the safety line, it may have prevented his death.

[gatorback]

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and coworkers.  Not related but the bus I was on the other day just flat out ran a red light.  I think the driver felt he deserved it.  I wonder what really was going through the drivers mind--did hey make a statement or is the JTA just hush on it?

[Ocklawaha]

My friends, the JTA drivers or any other bus driver are the ELITE of all drivers. The best of the best, that's not to say a bad egg gets in the basket once in a while, but overall, excellent. The fault (though it may NEVER be made public) if the often heard complaint of 15 or 16 hour work days, skipped breaks and lunches, and very short rest times...a practice clearly illegal in the USDOT or FTA eyes. But well known to JTA drivers who have the guts to speak their minds, and some do! I want an investigation.... Did this man fall asleep? If so Blaylock, Miller and company better start selling newspapers on a local corner.

If (when) theirs a law suit, I hope that the drivers union gets right in the middle of it too!

Ocklawaha