Bad drivers near crash site give buses ‘nowhere to unload’

On the day after a Massachusetts man was killed and two of his relatives injured by a tour bus at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver, police and port staff sported whistles and stop signs to help guard pedestrians and to direct traffic.

It was a busy Monday. Cruise ships Norwegian Sun and Disney Wonder with their combined capacities of nearly 4,400 passengers and 1,900 crew were in port, and each hummed with activity.

Taxis, hotel shuttles, work vans and private cars all jostled for position in front of hotels and on the street.

Amid the chaos stood Penny Tonge. The Tourism Vancouver volunteer found herself the day after the accident considering what went wrong and how deaths could be prevented in the area.

For Tonge, that starts with doing something about the parking problem. She pointed out a trio of double-parked cars that were blocking the path of a bus waiting to unload passengers.

“This bus, say, has nowhere to unload because these cars are where they shouldn’t be,” she said.

But try telling some drivers to move.

“Even this morning, after what happened, this guy goes: ‘No, I can park here.’ I got impatient and said that’s why someone was killed yesterday.”

Among those who said he was hoping for changes in the area is Stuart Coventry, general manager of the Vancouver Trolley Company. It was one of Coventry’s coaches that struck and pinned the tourists.

“All of us at Vancouver Trolley Company are shocked and deeply saddened about yesterday’s tragic accident,” Coventry told reporters not far from the accident scene.

The driver, who is co-operating with investigators and is still employed by the company, has been with the firm for seven years and had a spotless record.