JM on January 08, 2009, at 11:07AM – #1

I saw the police cordoning this off yesterday morning and it looked pretty gruesome. I'm sad to hear the lady passed away. It looked like she got hit by the DASH while she was walking in the middle of the pedestrian crossing. I'm not quite sure how it could have happened.

ndevelopment on January 08, 2009, at 11:13AM – #2

Yeah, it wasnt a pretty site. Cant get the image out of my head.

Brian on January 08, 2009, at 11:15AM – #3

What a tragic story ... As you've talked about Eric many blogs have commented on buses driving incredibly fast downtown and sometimes running red lights. It's a topic I spoke about a while back and received some interesting comments, including a LAPD officer.

http://cartersblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/jaywalking-tickets-out-front-of-our-building/

WeezerMonkey on January 08, 2009, at 11:29AM – #5

I have personally experienced DASH buses running red lights on many occasions (including times when I was almost mowed down while in a crosswalk -- I gave the driver the finger, of course). It sickens me that this poor woman was killed by such a bus.

Annonymous on January 08, 2009, at 12:10PM – #6

This was very tragic. I don't understand how she didn't die on the spot when half of her innards were spread throughout Flower Street. I am so sorry to be so graphic but it is very upsetting that this detail has to come from a blogger and not an LAPD officer or Metro spokesperson.

I will be bringing flowers to the corner in honor of Glendowyn and encourage others to do the same.

Anton Amurskiy on January 08, 2009, at 01:15PM – #7

Agreed, bus drivers in downtown are the biggest assholes ever, wether you are driving a car or walking.

Dave on January 08, 2009, at 03:46PM – #9

Sometimes buses run red lights.

Sometimes pedestrians cross against the light or head into the intersection very late.

Since this happened during the set-up for the farmers' market, there might have been a produce truck blocking the view.

Do we have any witnesses that actually know what happened?

1234 on January 08, 2009, at 06:00PM – #10

There are no farmers market vehicles out that early, they start coming around 9/10.

And I have to chime on on buses running red lights. Most of the time they honk to let everyone know they are running it (gee, thanks). I work at 5th/flower and walk home to 7th/spring and see it almost daily.

Although since the bus was turning left, it wouldn't have been going that fast anyway, so I'm curious as to how all of it happened. I'm sure there must have been a few witnesses.

David Kennedy on January 08, 2009, at 06:11PM – #11

I second Anton's sentiments. Bus drivers need some serious customer service training.

nomad on January 08, 2009, at 09:18PM – #12

The vendors at the farmers market set up well before 9 1234. I arrive at work at around 8 and plenty are setting up. And since the left two lanes of 5th are blocked I think that played a part in the accident. But if the pedestrian can cross the bus has a green as well (but must yield), so I don't think this was a case of running a red, even though that is a problem.

jimmyk on January 09, 2009, at 06:55AM – #14

running red lights by buses is a problem but so is cars making turns while the lights are green and peds are crossing.

aren't cars supposed to wait till the peds are done crossing?

too many times i see drivers in such a hurry that they zoom right in front or behind light crossers with such speed and recklessness that i'm surprised there aren't more serious reported accidents at cross walks.

scariest example: crossing olive during rush hour on the north side of 6th as 2 lanes of eastbound cars make lefts.

Rachel on January 09, 2009, at 07:07AM – #15

I had the unfortunate opportunity to walk past this the other morning on my way to work. This was around 7:15 or so, so there were still many police around and Flower was completely blocked off from 5th to 6th. The bus in the accident was a DASH, but the sign was not on to identify if it was one of the routes that travels south on Flower through that intersection or if it had turned left onto Flower from 5th. It was terrible to see, and only makes me hope that both pedestrians and traffic can slow down a bit.

JM on January 09, 2009, at 09:46AM – #16

This story is a sorry reminder of how dangerous it can be walking around this city sometimes. It's not just Downtown either. I've lost count of the times I've narrowly escaped being hit by a car. In a city where jaywalking penalties are actually enforced, how about some accountability for drivers? We all see cars running red lights, but rarely see anyone getting caught. If anything, this lady's plight should come as a reminder that we do have a problem, and it's not exclusively a DASH problem. I think left-turn signals might be one option, and no-turn-on-red another.

marlene on January 09, 2009, at 09:54AM – #17

Every weekday morning I walk from 7ht Street station to my work place and I am in constant terror while I am crossing streets, especially 6th and 5th. Busses that turn left from Flower to 6th ignore or from 5th to Flower utterly ignore pedestrian green sign and pull over cross lines trying to beat crossing pedestrians. I am always in a fear that one day I will be hit.

Ingrid Peterson on January 09, 2009, at 10:04AM – #18

After seeing this on Wednesday morning, I'm still trying to shake the image from my mind. Today, I did choose to cycle down Flower again (as per my usual commute) but I felt a bit jumpy and wary of the buses. So SAD.

nirad on January 09, 2009, at 10:58AM – #19

I don't know exactly how this accident occurred so this may not be relevant, but one thing about the intersection of 5th and Flower is that it really needs a protected left turn signal.

VJ on January 09, 2009, at 11:12AM – #20

To clarify: LAist wrote her name incorrectly. Her name is Gwendolyn Coleman.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family.

LSH on January 09, 2009, at 12:15PM – #21

Quite a few of the comments talk about vehicles, specifically buses, running red lights. Once someone brought it up, scores of people started chiming in with similar stories. The fact is, the investigation is still ongoing. All we know so far is that at 5th and Flower St, a pedestrian, while in the crosswalk, was unfortunately hit and killed by a DASH bus making a left turn. Was the bus running a red light or was the lady walking against a red light? What are the facts here? Let's see what comes out of this before getting hyped up. Once we know those basics, we can at least have some sensible diologue and maybe some suggestions to correct the problem will come out of it. My prayers are with the families of both the bus driver and the pedestrian.

Dave on January 09, 2009, at 01:39PM – #24

The comment from the person named "1234" is incorrect. The 5th Street farmers' market is being set up at 7:30am on Wednesdays. Some stalls are already open for business. There are other farmers' markets downtown with different hours. I have no evidence that the farmers' market had any affect on the incident, but it was there.

nomad on January 11, 2009, at 02:35PM – #25

While crossing flower at 5th the other day I did notice that the walk signal only goes on for about 3 seconds and then after the flashing hand the no walk signal is up for about 6 seconds while the green light for 5th street traffic is still on. Not sure if this played any role but it does seem like quite and odd signal timing/set up.

And to some of the previous comment's; yes, nobody knows what happened for sure but that does not mean people should not discuss their concerns on the blatant disregard for traffic signals that they have seen, even if that was not the cause of this, it could lead to a similarly terrible situation, and should be addressed before it does.

Joe on January 12, 2009, at 10:00AM – #26

I get off of Santa Clarita transit buses at 7am every morning at 5th and Flower, and I will confirm that Farmer's Market booths are already in the process of setting up before I get there. The flower booth nearest the intersection of 5th and Flower is one of the first ones to start setting up each Wednesday mornign

Downtown Resident (6th & Grand) on January 13, 2009, at 02:36PM – #27

From my experience, 100% of the buses in LA speed up when they see the yellow light and run the red lights at high speeds.

Since I doubt even one of the buses will slow down, we (pedestrians and joggers) should think about the colors we wear at dawn and dusk. If the victim was wearing a dark coat and dark pants, she might have been hard to see.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to friends and family left behind. Surely God will not waste this horror, but will use it to help others in some way.

katanya Currie on January 14, 2009, at 11:10PM – #28

Sometimes drivers do move fast in that area but the pedestrian are not always right, This time it's just sad that something like this had to happen, can you imagine how the driver feels it was a tragic day for everyone what ever the out come maybe that driver has to live with that for the rest of his life and lets hope and pray that when the light get ready to change to red the people stay on the curb until a green light flash again May God be with the driver and his family and the decese family as well

Downtown Resident (6th & Grand) on January 16, 2009, at 01:14PM – #31

None of my neighbors seem to know about this accident over a week later. So, I created this video that I hope people will pass around so that everyone downtown can know and be more careful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izfw1Lji02I

Downtown Resident (6th & Grand) on January 16, 2009, at 05:01PM – #32

None of my neighbors seem to know about this accident over a week later. So, I created this video that I hope people will pass around so that everyone downtown can know and be more careful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izfw1Lji02I