Sign Hit By Tour Bus Designed To Withstand Large Impact

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Hundreds of signs line California highways. Some are held up by wood or aluminum on the side of the road. Others, held up by steel and hang over traffic passing underneath.

"We've got regulatory signs, we've got directional signs, we've got advisory signs and we have overhead sign," said Mark Dinger, a spokesperson with the California Department of Transportation.

Smaller signs for road instructions like speed limits are held up by wood.

Holes are drilled through the base to weaken the structure. It allows them to break away if they're impacted by a vehicle.

"Those overhead signs are several hundred pounds right over the travel way," said Dinger, "So we need to make sure those are on firm foundations."

The pole that cut through the Charter bus in Merced on Tuesday killing four people was built of steel and was the size of a tree trunk. The pole held a 12 foot sign.

"We don't want those signs to come down and that's why we build them so solidly," said Dinger.

"It's very scary seeing it," said Chris Miller. He's a student and bus driver at UC Davis.

He drives a similar passenger bus.

"It's all metallic," said Miller, "it's hard to make a dent in a bus."

Miller says the engines in charter and transit buses are housed in the back of the vehicle, which minimizes noise.
He says having more metal up front wouldn't necessarily affect safety.

"Anything more would be kind of distracting than make me feel safer," said Miller.

A Cal Trans engineer is on the Merced bus wreck investigation team. They'll be taking measurements and looking at what ways, if any, they should improve sign structure and safety.