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Metrobus driver gets year in prison for fatally running over two women
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Metrobus implemented safety upgrades after a driver struck and killed two women in February. A total of five people have been killed this year.
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The Metrobus driver who fatally struck two women on Valentine’s Day will serve a year behind bars, a District judge ruled Wednesday.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz sentenced Victor Kolako, 53, to one year in prison for running over Martha Schoenborn and Sally McGhee. The women, who were best friends, had the walk signal as they crossed Pennsylvania Avenue around 6:30 p.m. Feb. 14. Kolako, who pleaded guilty to negligent vehicular homicide in September, never saw them as he made an abrupt left-hand turn.
Kolako, who apologized to his victims’ family and friends Wednesday, had a clean seven-year record as a Metrobus operator. He faced as many as three years in prison, but the judge settled on one year because Kolako had no previous criminal convictions. His defense lawyer asked Kravitz to keep Kolako out jail, arguing the former operator would counsel current Metro employees on the importance of safety if he was spared prison.
“[Bus drivers] can’t be bullies on the road simply because of their size,” Kravitz said before announcing the sentence.
Metro implemented a series of safety upgrades shortly after the Valentine’s Day incident. All of Metro’s 2,400 bus operators are now required to attend annual safety-refresher courses that include having the drivers cross busy intersections on foot to gain the pedestrians’ perspective. The system also is looking to install safety features, such as a bright warning light, on its buses.
Kolako was fired shortly after the accident.
“This incident is a terrible tragedy for everyone involved,” said Metro spokeswoman Joanna Ferreira. “We cannot comment further due to pending litigation.”
Gregory Schoenborn, Martha’s husband, has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Metro that accuses the transit system of not doing enough to prevent fatal accidents.
Five pedestrians have been fatally hit by Metrobuses this year, after none was killed in 2006. Most recently, Tao Sun, a 38-year-old Rockville man, was struck by a passengerless Metrobus Monday night as he stepped into a crosswalk at the intersection of Parklawn Drive and Twinbrook Parkway, near the Twinbrook Metrorail station.
jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com
