Bus Driver Gets a Year in Pedestrian Deaths

Gregory Schoenborn, right, whose wife, Martha, was killed by MetroBus driver Victor Z. Kolako, embraces his attorney Peter Grenier outside the courthouse after Kolako's sentencing. (Bill O'Leary - The Washington Post)

This year, five pedestrians have been killed by Metrobuses. The most recent death occurred Monday, when a driver struck and killed a man crossing a street during the evening rush near the Twinbrook Metro station in Montgomery County.

Metro's general manager, John B. Catoe Jr., this year ordered annual safety training for all 2,400 Metrobus drivers.

Dressed in a black suit and tie, Kolako often sat at the defendant's table yesterday with his head bowed, eyes shut and fists clenched. When the judge asked Kolako whether he wanted to speak, he stood and turned to the families.

"I am very sorry. Sorry to the families. Sorry for the loss of their lives. Sorry to the public," he said.

Kravitz seemed to take pity on Kolako, who came to the United States more than a decade ago as a political refugee from Liberia, where he was a diplomat. Since the accident, Kolako has lost his job and his house. In October, his 17-year-old daughter, Victoria, died from a seizure.

But Kravitz said he recently viewed a recording of the accident, taken by a surveillance camera atop the National Archives building. Kolako "bolted into that crosswalk, endangering the passengers on the bus, the occupants in the oncoming cars and the lives of two innocent pedestrians," he said.

"During the past 10 months, Mr. Kolako has suffered greatly," the judge said. "But this case is not just about Victor Kolako. His conduct has had a devastating impact on the families of two victims."