2 Killed, 2 Critically Injured in Accidents Involving MTA Buses

Two people were killed and two others critically injured Thursday in separate accidents involving Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses in the downtown Los Angeles area, authorities said.

In the first accident, a 44-year-old man who police believe was walking in a crosswalk near City Hall while the “walk” sign was lit died after being hit by an MTA bus, authorities said. Robert Dale Lowry of Hollywood was struck shortly after 6 a.m. as he was crossing Main Street at Temple Street.

The Route 92 bus, driven by 71-year-old Forest Norman Churchill, was turning left from Main onto westbound Temple when it struck Lowry, an employee with the Immigration and Naturalization Service who was on his way to work.

Lowry, whose back was to the bus, suffered massive head injuries and died instantly, authorities said.

Churchill, who has driven a bus for 45 years, told authorities that he did not see Lowry, said Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Partain.

Churchill retired as a full-time MTA bus driver in 1991 but has continued to work intermittently on an as-needed basis, MTA officials said.

Police theorized that Lowry, who was not married and is survived by his mother, may have been in a blind spot caused by the bus’s large side-view mirrors. An investigation was continuing, police said.

Seven hours later, about a mile from the scene of the morning accident, 18-year-old Luis Rodriquez was killed when the car in which he was a passenger crossed into the path of an MTA bus in the 700 block of North Mission Road. His two companions were critically injured and taken to County-USC Medical Center. Their names were not immediately released.

“The car either made a left turn in front of the bus, or was backing out of a driveway when it was hit,” MTA spokesman Steve Chesser said.

In addition, 15 to 18 of the 43 people on the Route 70 bus, including the driver, were transported to three area hospitals for treatment and evaluation. None were seriously injured, MTA spokesman Jim Smart said.