Adding strobe lights will help protect PSTA buses

At rush hour, Juanita Johnson says, motorists will do just about anything to pass her: They'll cut her off, honk their horns maliciously, even come close to sideswiping the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus that she drives.

"They get so impatient," she said. "They're going to do something to get around that bus."

Johnson used to have a route on U.S. 19, one of the most congested roadways in Pinellas County. According to officials, the stop and go of buses on the county's north-south spine indirectly caused so many fender-benders, something had to be done.

A solution is amber strobe lights, which flash rapidly when bus drivers apply the brakes. Working with a $45,000 grant from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, the PSTA this month finished the task of affixing the lights to its 165 buses and trolleys.

In January 2000, County Commissioner Karen Seel chaired a task force charged with improving safety on U.S. 19. Two public workshops solicited ideas.

According to Seel, the group found after six months that most crashes, especially those that involved deaths, were not occurring at intersections but in lane changes prompted by impediments such as buses.

The task force urged the county to consider strobes as a safety precaution. (The group also suggested drive-in bays on the shoulders of U.S. 19 where buses could pick up riders, but Seel said that recommendation has been ignored.)

"Bus stops are not visible from the roadway," Seel said. "If you can see ahead that these strobe lights are flashing at you, and you can see the bus stopping, hopefully way in advance, you're able to slow down. I'm hoping that it can help (prevent) rear-end collisions."

While it's too early to tell if the strobes have reduced the number of accidents, PSTA executive director Roger Sweeney said residents think the lights were a bright idea.

"We had a lady call in who said, "You know, those strobe lights are so wonderful; now I know which lane not to get into when I'm on U.S. 19,' " Sweeney said. "I guess she didn't like the stop and go of the buses."

Drivers have noticed the discolike strobes in a frenzy at bus stops, especially at night.

"The more lights you can get back there, the better," said Melvin Webb, of St. Petersburg. "This is sufficient. I would like as many lights going off as I can get."

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