Salem Breakfast on Bikes: Collision with Cherriots Bus Kills Person on Foot

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Collision with Cherriots Bus Kills Person on Foot

Earlier today, at the corner of Union and High, a person operating a Cherriots bus collided with a person on foot. The person on foot died at the scene.

The outbound No. 19 makes a right hand turn
from Union to Broadway

A No. 19 bus going north on High is pictured in media accounts on the side of the road at the Chemeketa Center for Business and Industry on the corner. It makes a right-hand turn around the corner right there with a bus stop on Union Street just before the turn. There are also restaurants and the parking garage right there, and it is not far from ARCHES.

The intersection has traffic lights and marked crosswalks.

Salem Police have not published a statement beyond a couple of announcements on the former twitter, and it is not at all clear what happened and who might have made errors.

Update 1

Salem Police released a statement.

Just after 1:00 p.m. today, Salem Police and other emergency personnel responded to the intersection of Union and High STS NE on the report of a pedestrian struck by a Cherriots bus.
The preliminary investigation by the Salem Police Traffic Team indicates the driver of the transit bus was traveling westbound on Union ST and initiated a right-hand turn onto northbound High ST, striking a pedestrian in the crosswalk on the northeast corner of the intersection.

The bus driver brought the bus to a stop a short distance away from the intersection. The driver and occupants of the bus attempted to render aid to the pedestrian; however, he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The pedestrian is identified as Joseph Eugene Chandler, age 68, of Salem.

The Cherriots bus driver, John Paul Valdez, age 63, of Albany, remained on scene and cooperated with the investigation.

The Traffic Team investigation continues, and as such, no citations have been issued or arrest made.

Through traffic in the area was closed for approximately two hours for the investigation.

If there's not a leading pedestrian interval, it is a place where one should be considered. The release does not, however, say what directions of travel had the green light. Still, bus drivers should be looking for people on foot anywhere.

Update on a Site Visit, January 25th

I wanted to visit the corner of Union and High. Did the new bike lane striping on Union Street contribute to a problem?

Bus stop in the newish buffered bike lane

Probably not. Buses do have to cross into and occupy the bike lane and buffer, and they may not be squaring the corner when they make the right-hand turn. But it's hard to see that hampering vision of the crosswalk.

Here's a driver who is only partly squaring the turn. There's a person biking in the crosswalk. They came from the sidewalk and were not using the new bike lanes. (There will be more to say on that another time.)

Right-hand turn on yellow; person biking in crosswalk

If a driver squaring the corner reasonably slowly and looking forward, then a person in the crosswalk should be visible.

Instead, it seemed most likely that the bus driver was making a right-on-red turn, and was looking left for oncoming cars. If a person was using the east-west (north side) crosswalk against the light and taking advantage of a gap in cars, a bus driver looking left might miss the unexpected person in the right hand crosswalk. A person crossing north-to-south with the light could also be overlooked, but this seems less likely.

Here's the start of the northbound lane on High Street at the corner. It's a legacy door-zone lane. Drivers hugging the corner could encroach on the bike lane and be at an angle instead of squared up to the crosswalk.

North-bound on High is a legacy door-zone bike lane

We'll have to wait for any announcement about the result of the investigation. But there is an argument that the corner should be squared off more with a much smaller turning radius for drivers and a channel for the bike lane, almost like a protected bike lane configuration. Paint and flexposts could offer passage for people on bike and guide those in motor vehicles to square the corner.