SE Woman Is Struck, Killed by Metrobus

"We are safe," Catoe said, comparing Metro with systems in San Francisco, Chicago and New York. "But we had one too many accidents last night," Catoe said.

Walters's mother, Gladys Sutton, 49, spent part of yesterday receiving visitors in the living room of her Brentwood home in Northeast Washington. Many held her tight and prayed. She accepted hugs and condolences from the mayor and council members Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) and showed them photographs of Walters, the eldest girl of her nine children.

After giving birth to three sons, Sutton, who works with seniors at a nursing home, said she prayed for a girl and finally got her wish.

"When she came, I said, 'That's my Angel,' " Sutton said.

Walters graduated from Calvin Coolidge Senior High School in Northwest's Brightwood section and had recently enrolled at the University of the District of Columbia to pursue a nursing career. Relatives described her as a loving, giving person who wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps. She leaves behind a 5-year-old daughter, Aubria, and a large extended family, many members of which worship together at the Word and Spirit Ministry, a small evangelical congregation in Northeast.

Walters's aunt Jacqueline Sutton was among the family and friends gathered at her sister-in-law's home yesterday afternoon. Reeling with disbelief about the accident, she demanded answers from Metro: How could the driver not have noticed Walters getting out of the car? How fast was the bus traveling?

"I totally blame Metro. They are putting drivers out on the street too fast. They're not training these people properly," Sutton said. "Accidents happen, but a big bus like that should have seen her."

No passengers were on the bus at the time Walters was struck. Farbstein said drivers are not penalized if they run behind schedule. Supervisors routinely drive along the routes to monitor whether drivers are staying on schedule. If drivers fall behind, Metro can change its routes or timetables to "more accurately reflect the schedule as it relates to traffic patterns," Farbstein said.

She said Metro installed collision avoider sensors on 50 buses the first week of February and put strobe lights on 100 last month as part of a pilot program. The bus in Saturday's incident did not have the new safety features, she said.

Staff researcher Rena Kirsch and staff writer Clarence Williams contributed to this report.