Charter Bus/Ride the Ducks Collision - 2 Dead (Seattle: 2015, condo)

[CrazyDonkey]

2 dead, many injured after bus, Ride the Ducks boat collide on Aurora Bridge



http://www.king5.com/story/news/traf...ured/72746930/

[CrazyDonkey]

Now, four dead being reported by the Fire Chief. 12 critical.

[Yakscsd]

Ducks don't kill people, Duck Boats kill people.

[CrazyDonkey]

Looks like a mechanical failure - left-front tire of the Duck vehicle came off, causing it to swerve into the charter bus, where the fatalities and most of the injuries were.

Will raise questions about safety on the Aurora Bridge (very narrow lanes, speed of vehicles) and the road-worthiness/safety-inspections of the Ducks and other "tourist" vehicles.

[RotseCherut]

So horrible, I've always knew that Aurora bridge utterly sucked and was dangerous. How can a bridge with so much traffic have no barrier for oncoming traffic. This accident was bound to happen. Sadly, maybe it will take some innocent blood for the Seattle city council to wake up and realize they have some serious safety hazards in the city that need remedying. I always make an effort to avoid travelling on that bridge and to avoid being in the lane directly opposing traffic.

A little prayer for those who have died, May G-d rest their soul..
Baruch Dayan Ha Emet

[IheartWA]

I "Road the Duck" a few years ago, and I was very uncomfortable going over the Aurora Bridge. I know they're tourist attractions, and that lots of people "Ride the Duck" without incident, but those things are so unsafe. WWII era vehicles on the Aurora bridge, not very smart or safe.

I was also nervous about crossing Lake Union. If the Duck just puttered around downtown Seattle that's fine.

[bartonizer]

I agree- that whole stretch from Green Lake to Downtown seems dangerous, especially when there's not that much traffic and speeds increase. My wife and I remark about it every time we're in the area. Between the narrow lanes and lack of center barrier, I'm actually surprised that this type of thing doesn't occur more often.

My condolences to the victims, the accident scene looks horrible.

[homesinseattle]

Sad day in Seattle, on so many levels. My heart goes out to all these dear people.

[pnwguy2]

This is not the first bus accident on the Aurora Bridge. Who can forget the metro bus driver shot on November 27, 1998, and the bus actually went off the bridge to fall in the Fremont neighborhood below. 1 dead in that one with 32 injuries.

Certainly different type of accidents, but on the same bridge. A bridge that has long been criticized for having too narrow of lanes with no center divider. The solution might be reducing lanes, speed limit, and putting a center divider up. However, I'm not sure any of that would have prevented today's tragic accident.

[mrman78]

It was an eerie sight driving home from work today. The bridge was closed just north of the Fremont exit, so had to detour to the Ballard bridge to get home (QA). Fremont bridge was jammed with cars. You could see the vehicles in the distance from 99 before exiting. It was just eerie seeing the bridge completely empty other than those vehicles and investigators, etc. Very sad. Thoughts and prayers are with those affected. They are saying that it might not be open for tomorrow's morning commute.

I've always been a bit leery of the Duck vehicles when they are on the bridge. Sometimes they don't stay in their lanes and I just always feel the drivers can't be 100% concentrated on the road while giving their tour info. However, this sounds like it might be a mechanical issue. Time will tell I guess.