RTD to Seek Help From Panel of Experts in Stemming Tide of Accidents

Reacting to a recent rash of accidents, the Southern California Rapid Transit District board of directors agreed Thursday to ask an independent panel of experts to study the district’s safety and training policies and to make recommendations for improvement.

In addition to other nationally recognized safety experts, an RTD spokesman said, the board recommended that the panel include representatives of the California Highway Patrol, National Transportation Safety Board, the state Department of Transportation and National Safety Council.

Soon after the board decision, two more RTD bus accidents occurred.

One car was wrecked and several others sustained lesser damage when an RTD bus failed to stop while turning at a congested Westwood intersection shortly before 4 p.m. No injuries were reported.

Bus driver Jerry Brown, 55, said he was southbound on Westwood Boulevard and turning left onto Wilshire Boulevard en route to downtown Los Angeles when his accelerator stuck and the bus smashed into a car ahead of him.

Brown said he tried to apply the brakes, “but that didn’t stop it.” The bus shoved the heavily damaged car into a pickup truck. Those vehicles in turn collided with oncoming traffic.

Brown said he had been driving buses for 16 1/2 years and had not had a major accident in the last 12.

An RTD spokesman said the cause was being investigated.

Then, at about 5:45 p.m. in South-Central Los Angeles, a bus and car collided while both were trying to make a right turn from Broadway onto Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. A police investigator said the bus was in the outer lane when it struck the side of the car, which was next to the curb.

Five people complained of injuries. One was Inez Hernandez, a passenger in a car driven by Renaldo Villagrana. Hernandez, who is pregnant, was in good condition at California Hospital. One man and three women who were aboard the bus were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where their injuries were said to be minor. All were expected to be released.

Norma Ruiz, 14, who lives on the corner where the accident occurred, said it appeared that the bus “was taking space in both lanes” and sideswiped Villagrana’s car. The bus driver, Joseph Spears, was not available for comment.

An RTD spokesman said the car had a damaged front fender and the bus had minor damage.

On Wednesday, 19 people suffered minor injuries when a slow-moving Southern Pacific freight train struck the front of an RTD bus that had stopped too close to a South Gate rail crossing. South Gate police said Thursday that when their investigation is complete, they will submit a report to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. It will be up to the latter to decide whether to issue a complaint against the bus driver.

That accident came only six days after 27 people were injured when another RTD bus overturned on the northbound Hollywood Freeway near Western Avenue.

Times staff writers John Mitchell and Ronald L. Soble contributed to this article.