The family of an elderly Doylestown Township man killed after he was struck and run over twice by a bus have filed a wrongful death suit alleging negligence contributed to the accident earlier this year.
The estate of Ronald Davenport filed the lawsuit Oct. 16 in Bucks County Common Pleas Court against Bucks County Transport Inc., the Bucks County Housing Authority, Coach & Equipment Manufacturing and five unidentified individuals including the as-yet unnamed bus driver.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has an active investigation into the Aug. 12 hit and run accident that fatally injured Davenport, 83, in the parking lot of Grundy Hall, a county-owned senior community where Davenport and his life lived. No charges have been filed as of Oct.
22.
The accident occurred around 9 p.m. as Davenport was crossing an area near the Grundy Hall main entrance to the complex’s parking lot.
The lawsuit alleges that Bucks County Transport was operating an event charter bus for Grundy Hall and dropping off passengers shortly before the accident occurred as Davenport was walking to the complex parking lot.
His family believes Davenport bent down to pick up something from the pavement when he saw the oncoming bus as it was leaving the main entrance, attempted to get out of the way and he fell in front of it.
The lawsuit alleges the driver did see Davenport before he “slowly ran over him,” before stopping. Then, while Davenport was under the bus, he ran over him a second time and dragged his body until it was freed from the rear of the bus.
The bus driver allegedly stopped again, got out and saw the gravely injured Davenport on the pavement. The driver gathered up papers and other items near his body in an attempt to hide evidence of the accident, according to the lawsuit.
The driver than allegedly got back into the bus and left the scene before police and emergency medical services arrived, the suit alleges.
Davenport, who moved into Grundy Hall with his wife in July, was transported to Abington Hospital where he was pronounced dead; an autopsy ruled the death as accidental, the result of multiple blunt force injuries.
In its lawsuit, the family alleges that Davenport’s death was preventable and the result of negligence on the part of the defendants.
The attorneys contend the design of Grundy Hall forces its residents and visitors to cross a paved drive aisle to get from the complex’s main entrance to the parking lot where their vehicles are located.
While Grundy Hall serves an elderly population, the drive aisle has no marked crosswalk, stop line or stop bar on the pavement indicating a pedestrian crossing, and no marked bus loading zone signs or physical separation between the drive aisle and buses using it, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges that industry standards call for marked crosswalks where pedestrian routes cross where vehicles pass as well as warning signs.
The lawsuit also alleges that Bucks County Transport was aware that technology exists for buses that can detect a person who a bus driver cannot see in the driver’s seat, but that the bus was not equipped with it.
Attorneys also allege that a Bucks County Transport bus struck another passenger in 2021 because the driver did not see the person and the bus did not have sensors or other equipment to detect a person in a blind spot.
Attorney Kevin McNulty who is representing Bucks County Transport declined to comment on the lawsuit allegations when reached Oct. 22.
The Davenport family has been frustrated with the lack of public information releasedabout the fatal accident, according to their attorneys. Doylestown Township police did not issue a press release about the accident.
The family recently released a statement hoping any witnesses or others with information will come forward.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Doylestown man's family suing for wrongful death in Grundy Hall accident
