No feasible way to reinforce bus that could have prevented consequences of 2019 Westboro crash, inquest hears

An expert in collision impacts testifies at the inquest into the 2019 Westboro bus crash. CTV’s Katie Griffin reports.

This story contains disturbing details that may be upsetting to some readers.

A crashworthiness expert with Transport Canada said there was no feasible way to reinforce the shell or structure of the bus that slammed into a canopy overhang at Westboro station in 2019 that could have prevented the catastrophic consequences.

“The height of this canopy unfortunately aligned with the passengers,” Suzanne Tylko told the coroner’s inquest into the collision that claimed the lives of Judy Booth, Bruce Thomlinson and Anja Van Beek and injured dozens more.

Tylko described the sheer force of the impact.

“This was a horrific accident and as this canopy was penetrating inside the bus it was picking up the seats with it and pushing them back,” she said. “All of the seats and the passengers were being pushed back.”

Tylko said the crash was different than all other documented collisions because the “bus struck a rigid structure which was quite high and aligned with the very top portion of the bus.”

The inquest was shown a diagram of the top level of the bus indicating the physical injuries (fatality, serious, minor or no injury) experienced by passengers based on where they were sitting. Booth, Thomlinson and Van Beek were in window seats on the right side of the bus.

Temporary road markings not properly removed

Earlier on Tuesday, a senior engineer with the city of Ottawa said confusing road markings that a judge attributed as one of the factors leading to the deadly crash should have been mechanically removed by a contractor and not painted over.

The lines heading to the transitway station had been painted orange in 2018 in order to redirect traffic during a construction project, Bin Wang told the inquest. The lines were painted over with black paint, but it had worn off by the time of the crash.

As per the contract with the city, Wang said the contractor was to mechanically remove the temporary markings from the pavement at the conclusion of the project. Wang told the inquest he wasn’t made aware the orange lines had been covered with paint until January 19, 2019, days after the crash.

Since the road markings were not properly removed, it was considered a “construction deficiency.” Wang said he sent an e-mail to OC Transpo in November 2019 requesting the lines be removed.

They weren’t removed until June 2020. The investigation and resulting limited access to the site on the Transitway was a factor in the delay.

Inspection checks

Wang walked the inquest through various aspects of the project that included a contract administrator who managed the contract between the city and the contractor. Parsons was hired to ensure the project was carried out and communicated to the contractor to remove the markings, Wang said.

When asked if he had any recommendations, Wang said a “construction inspector should be present on site watching the whole process and confirm temporary permanent marking is removed mechanically.”

After a project has wrapped and before the site is turned back over to the city, Wang was asked if it would be helpful to have some sort of a safety checklist or “safety-oriented process before buses run on these roads” to identify and address any potential safety issues.

“I think that’s very fair comment. I think that’s something we can consider for a future project given what we’ve learned,” he stated.

Safety issues identified at Westboro station

John Morrall, an engineer hired to do a safety audit of the transitway including five stations following the crash, found 22 safety issues at Westboro station.

The focus of the study was on the “physical station and potential bus interactions and the posted speed limit within the station area” and one of the objectives was to “determine if any design changes are required that would improve the overall safety and operations” of the station.

Morrall said the canopy was the most concerning issue “by far.”

He said it protruded out from the front of the station within the “desirable clear zone.”

Other identified issues included a jagged rock face and wall surface protrusions that could “grab the side of the vehicle resulting in a severe collision with the wall”, light areas and shadows due to the angle of the sun, a low curb height in some cases and the edge of the platform may not be discernable to people with vision impairments and/or the drivers approaching the station.

The inquest continues Tuesday.