FA man was killed and eight others injured from injuries they sustained while riding a Victor Valley Transit Authority (VVTA) bus this week. The vehicle was traveling in the early morning hours on Monday when it struck a tractor-trailer that was parked in the right lane of the highway. The truck did not have any lights on or signals indicating that it was there, and according to VVTA Executive Director Kevin Kane, video indicates that it was impossible to see the five-ton truck there until it was too late.
“The truck was invisible on the horizon because it blended in to the hills on the horizon,” Kane said. He said that in his opinion the bus driver, who had approximately five years of experience, tried everything to avoid the accident. “She didn’t see anything until her headlights hit the reflectors on the truck. She tried to swerve and couldn’t get out of the way in time. It was dark but you could see the driver was moving her arms and the moment she saw the vehicle she turned her whole body.”
Killed in the accident was Dail Keiper, a resident of Barstow whose wife is president of the Barstow Women’s Club. Mrs. Keiper was quoted as saying, “You ride the bus thinking you’re safe,” and had no other comment.
The bus was carrying nine passengers at the time, and the injured, which included the bus driver, were transported to Weed Army Medical Center, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and Loma Linda University Medical Center. The incident occurred on federal land, which means that Fort Irwin personnel will be conducting the investigation. The injured did include two soldiers.
Fort Irwin is the site of the National Training Center, a major training area for the United States Military. The VVTA bus service took over the Fort Irwin route approximately two years ago after budget cuts forced the federal installation to discontinue se of contracted buses. The VVTA bus drivers are contracted from a company called Veloia Transportation, which employs 17,000. This incident represents the first fatality in the last sixteen years for the VVTA.
The accident report will include video documentation derived from two separate video systems that are installed on the bus. There is a DriveCam video installed near the windshield and another system that is accessible with a key, and which had not yet been viewed.