Woman hit, killed by King County Metro bus at Northgate identified as 94-year-old



SEATTLE -- A woman hit and killed by King County Metro bus was identified Friday as 94-year-old Jacqueline Morrison.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office said the cause of death was blunt force injury of head, torso and extremities. The manner of death was determined to be an accident.

The bus was turning out of the Northgate Transit Center at about 3 p.m.  Thursday when it hit Morrison in a crosswalk on NE 100th Street.

The driver is 58 years old, a Metro employee since 1988. Seattle Police tested him and found no obvious signs of impairment. But Metro has relieved him of duty, until they know more about what happened.  They say he is very shaken by what happened. Until now, he had no major accidents or safety concerns on his record.

Former Metro bus driver Robert Catone didn’t witness the collision. But he says it can be hard for drivers to see people when they’re turning.

“All buses, they have blind spots. There’s nothing you can do about it. They get under the mirrors, you can try as you will. There’s things you can’t see when people get too close or just quite not into that mirror.”

King County Metro tells Q13 News they revamped their ongoing driver training two years ago to focus more on pedestrian awareness. There have been 20 incidents or collisions with pedestrians this year, but they say most were minor.

The Northgate Transit Center was closed for the investigation through much of Thursday evening. Dozens of buses were delayed and re-routed, frustrating many Metro passengers.

“When I got here, it was just pure confusion,” says Michael Buchanan. “It would have been nice if someone was at the transit center saying where the buses were. I walked that way, up the street, then realized they were getting on back here.”