Paul Levy considers the weekend bus crash [2] and recounts how the state solved the problem 30 years ago [3] - by hanging cowbells from the warning signs at the entrances to Storrow Driver and Soldiers Field Road, after then MDC Commissioner Bill Geary told his underlings to call a cow farmer to ask where they got their bells:
The frequency of crashes in the underpasses went from one per week to less than one per year. ...
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts solved the problem of bus crashes on this road 30 years ago. A lack of maintenance or will or understanding on the part of the state administration caused this problem to recur this past weekend. It was, in a sense, inevitable.
And it will happen again and again unless the state agency gets it act together.
Meanwhile, Charles Bahne, who has led bus tours of the Boston area for 30 years, explains [4] why he had trouble getting to sleep after hearing about the crash:
Clearly the driver was completely lost. He had not bothered to plan his route or to ask directions from anyone locally. When you, the bus driver, are responsible for the safety of 40 or 50 other people, that is the utmost of irresponsibility. And despite being lost, he was traveling at an excessive rate of speed.