Woman sues SEPTA and bus manufacturer after her husband was killed in a bus accident.
In a tragic incident on January 3, Michael Spooner, aged 35, was struck and killed by a Route 64 bus while he and his wife were crossing the intersection of South Front Street and Washington Avenue in Philadelphia. The couple was on their way to a movie date, just a short distance from their home. Following the collision, Kayla Spooner has not returned to using the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) services, expressing extreme distress whenever she sees a bus.
This heart-wrenching event has led Kayla Spooner to file a civil lawsuit against SEPTA, along with New Flyer America and New Flyer Canada, the manufacturers of the bus involved. The lawsuit, submitted to the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, cites claims of negligence, wrongful death, and product liability, alleging serious issues with the bus’s mirror design that hindered the driver’s visibility.
According to the lawsuit, the couple had a green pedestrian signal at the time of the incident when the bus made a turn into them. It is claimed that there had been prior complaints about the bus mirrors, which reportedly created significant blind spots, resulting in multiple accidents involving pedestrians. Following these complaints, SEPTA reportedly replaced the original mirrors with smaller models; however, the issue of blind spots persisted due to unchanged mirror positioning.
The operational guidelines suggested by SEPTA’s chief officer, urging drivers to maneuver the bus to secure a better view of pedestrians in crosswalks, have come under scrutiny. Importantly, the bus that struck the Spooners was equipped with the smaller mirrors, which the suit alleges were not adequately designed to mitigate the blind spot hazard.
The lawsuit further accuses the bus operator of negligence, alleging that the driver was operating the bus at an excessive speed given the circumstances. Kayla Spooner, who witnessed the tragic event and suffered from physical injuries, is seeking compensation to cover her medical expenses and lost wages. The lawsuit requests damages exceeding ,000, the threshold for mandatory arbitration in Philadelphia.
Through this legal action, Spooner aims to hold both SEPTA and New Flyer accountable for the accident and its devastating consequences, advocating for changes that could prevent future tragedies. The emotional toll of witnessing her husband’s death, coupled with her own injuries, has resulted in significant distress for Spooner, as she grapples with feelings of depression and fear following the incident.
Both SEPTA and New Flyer have opted not to comment on the ongoing litigation. The case raises important questions about public transportation safety standards and the responsibilities of transit authorities in preventing avoidable accidents.
