My name is Loan-Anh Tran Kao, and I created this website in honor of my husband, Jeff.  Through this website, I hope to empower myself and others to make a difference.  My goal is to force the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) to put the safety of the public first. 

Background.  A little over a year ago, my children and I lost my husband in a tragic but preventable accident.  Jeff was killed when he was hit by a city bus while crossing the street after work in downtown Houston.  Since the accident I have been extremely busy taking care of our three children -- Ryan, who was born 7 weeks after Jeff's death, Sara, who was 2 1/2, and Justin, who was 4 1/2. 

METRO's Abuse of its Sovereign Immunity.  After the accident, I had thought that METRO would initiate an internal inquiry and make all necessary changes to prevent future tragedies.  Unfortunately, METRO did not do so.  Instead, METRO, which is protected from lawsuit by sovereign immunity, threatened to take me to court to force me to accept its liability limit of $100,000 and release it of all liability for Jeff's accident.

METRO's Unsafe Practices. Since Jeff's accident, I have discovered that METRO is not operating safely.  Some of METRO's unsafe practices were the topics of a four segment investigative report by Wayne Dolcefino.  The report had aired on ABC Channel 13 in November 2004.  Interestingly, when these unsafe practices had been brought to METRO's attention, METRO had not categorically denied that it was acting unsafe, but merely stated that if it were being unsafe, there would be more accidents.  For quotes from METRO about its unsafe practices, please read the Petition.  With respect to the driver involved in Jeff's accident, it appears that METRO's records on the driver were so deficient that it begs the question of how did METRO know whether he was qualified to drive a METRO bus on the day of Jeff's accident.  Even after being served 3 subpoenas by the Harris County Assistant District Attorney's (ADA)  office in connection with the ADA's criminal case against  the driver involved in Jeff's accident (driver), it is my understanding that METRO did not  provide the ADA's office with complete records on the driver.  I believe that METRO did not have the records to respond to the ADA's subpoenas.  For example, METRO did not provide the ADA with copies of any annual reviews even though the driver had been a METRO employee for almost 20 years and it is METRO's written policy that such reviews be conducted.  METRO also only provided the ADA with disciplinary reports from the first few years of his employment.  Further, I believe that METRO had given the ADA a list of accidents in which the driver had been involved that covered only the years prior to 1999.  Interestingly, I was the person who had informed the ADA of the driver's record of accidents not METRO.  I had been informed of the driver's accident record by a Channel 13 investigative reporter.  The reporter had accessed the driver's accident record from a database that his channel had created in 1998 for a story about bad METRO drivers.  When the ADA had asked METRO about the driver's accident record, it is my understanding that the METRO representative's first response was "How does Mrs. Kao know?  We never gave her that information."  Moreover, when METRO was asked about the gaps in its records on the driver, the METRO representative's response was that METRO periodically purges records.  With respect to METRO's records on the driver, the information that METRO had purged appears to be from 1998 to November 3, 2003, the date of Jeff's accident.   Even by October 18, 2004, the first day of the state's case against the driver, I believe that the ADA's office still did not have complete records on the driver.   

A Life is Priceless.  After Jeff's accident, for the first time in my life, I felt powerless.  I wanted to empower myself.  I did not know where to start.  I had been told time and time again that any efforts to force METRO to be held accountable for its actions would be futile and that the prudent action was to accept the $100,000 liability limit.  However, I refused to believe that an entity set up to serve the public and funded by the public is not and cannot be held accountable to the public.  Thus, I am doing the only thing I know to do right now and that is to work to change a law that makes METRO value a person's life at only $100,000.   This  limit was established in 1973, was not indexed for inflation or cost of living and has not been changed since 1973.  It is time for a change.

Regards.