Due to a reporting error this story misstated the intersection where Valerie Hughes was struck and killed by a Chapel Hill Transit bus. She was in a crosswalk at the intersection of South Columbia Street and Mason Farm Road. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
In light of several pedestrian deaths this year Chapel Hill Transit is considering making changes to increase safety.
Valerie Hughes a radiology imaging specialist for UNC Health Care died from injuries after being struck by a Chapel Hill Transit bus Oct. 27 in a crosswalk at the corner of South Columbia Street and Manning Drive.
The intersection where the incident occurred signals traffic to turn onto Columbia while simultaneously indicating for pedestrians to cross. It is often unclear that vehicles are legally required to yield to people crossing the street.
The driver of the bus involved James Willie Orr was terminated when the town completed its investigation. Orr who worked at Chapel Hill Transit for eight years was charged with a misdemeanor count of death by vehicle for not yielding to a pedestrian at the crosswalk.
Orr65 had been involved in 10 other traffic incidents since 2001 eight of which occurred while driving a Chapel Hill Transit bus.
Neither Orr nor Chapel Hill officials would comment on the prior accidents and it is unclear why he was not fired.
In May Scottish exchange student Lisa Carolyn Moran died from injuries suffered after being hit by a bus on Manning Drive while jogging outside of a crosswalk.
Shortly after Moran's death Barbara Boone Sims" a Chapel Hill homeless woman was struck and killed by a vehicle at the corner of Weaver Dairy Road and Perkins Drive.
Current safety measures employed by Chapel Hill Transit include three weeks of training for new drivers in which they learn about defensive driving and other safety methods. Drivers then attend monthly training sessions to discuss safety topics.
Transit Director Steve Spade said the department plans to try to take more measures to prevent these types of incidents from occurring.
Spade said the department hopes to learn from these negative experiences to see improvements.
""I think these are the kind of things you look at and say"" ‘This is a really tragic incident. Are there things we could do to make sure these kinds of things don't happen again?'"" Spade said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
