Driver: Brakes Failed in Fatal Sound Transit Crash; WSP Seeks Witnesses

The driver of a Sound Transit bus that collided with an SUV, killing two people from Bellevue, told investigators that his brakes failed Monday night, according to the Washington State Patrol, which asks witnesses of the crash to come forward.

Robert Rotta, 76, and Elizabeth Rotta, 75, of Bellevue died Monday night after the SUV in which they were passengers was struck by the bus 128th Street in Kirkland. (Click here for the story.)

Sound Transit officials told Patch Tuesday that a malfunction is an as-yet-unexplained anomoly.

"All of the buses, no matter what model, they all go through rigorous pre-trip inspection before they ever leave the yard, including checking the brakes--and that's more than just tapping on them," said Bruce Gray, a spokesman for Sound Transit.

While the bus involved in the collision that left two Bellevue residents dead is "gone over with a fine-toothed comb," by the Washington State Patrol, the agency is asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call in.

Detectives are seeking witnesses that may have seen any events leading up to or the actual crash, which happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday night.  If you have any information or know someone who does, please contact Detective Sergeant Jerry Cooper at (360) 805-1192 or Detective Ben McBride at (360) 805-1195.

Gray said that Monday night's accident was the first fatality accident in Sound Transit history, since its launch in 1999.

"This is the first fatal accident we’ve had involving buses since we started running service in 1999," Gray said, "and we've had about 134 million riders since we started. Our buses regionwide make about 1,500 trips a day."

Sound Transit contracts with Community Transit, of Everett, to operate the bus line no. 35 between Lynnwood and Bellevue, Gray said. Community Transit, in turn, contracts with First Transit, which also has an office in Everett. The driver of the bus on Monday night's crash is a First Transit employee.

Martin Munguia, Public Information Officer for Community Transit, said the buses it operates from its yard near Paine Field in Everett, and undergo routine maintenance every 6,000 miles (for route 35, that means every 2-3 weeks, he said), as well as a routine inspection every six months. In addition, each bus driver does a "walk-around" pre-trip inspection each day, checking the tightness of the lugnuts on the tires, the mirrors, lights, and a number of other factors.

Once WSP has finished with its preliminary inspection of the bus, it will also be examined by transit authorities to help determine the cause of the accident, Munguia said. Community Transit has been operating in Snohomish County for 37 years and runs about 400 trips a day, he said.

As a standard protocol, the driver of the bus is on administrative leave and will undergo drug and alcohol testing, but WSP said earlier it did not have any indications that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.

State patrol troopers interviewed all of the 23 passengers on the bus, some of whom had minor injuries--earlier reports from WSP indicated there were 35 passengers on the bus.

"This is a horrible accident and a horrible anomaly, and we are cooperating fully with the state patrol," to determine the cause, Gray said.