Updated 1/27/2012 9:45 a.m.
A 64-year-old Forest Park man who may have been visually impaired was struck and killed by a Pace bus just after noon on Thursday as he was crossing Harlem Avenue in Oak Park, according to police.
Edward Taube, of the 300 block of Des Plaines Avenue, died at 12:52 p.m. at Loyola Hospital in Maywood, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Witnesses said the bus was proceeding eastbound on Madison Street at a low rate of speed and turned north onto Harlem Avenue at about 12:15 p.m Taube was walking west on the north side of Madison Street.
Pace spokesman Patrick Wilmot said there were initial reports that Taube may have been visually impaired, but he could not confirm those reports. He said Taube made contact with the side rear of the bus, was knocked down and run over by its rear wheels. He did not know if Taube had been walking in the crosswalk.
Taube was taken to Loyola Hospital after emergency services personnel found him about eight feet north of the crosswalk with severe leg trauma and a significant loss of blood.
Wilmot said the bus followed Route 318. The driver is a 19-year veteran and a past recipient of safety awards. In addition to an investigation done by the Oak Park police, Wilmot said Pace has safety personnel that will conduct their own investigation of the incident.
Oak Park Police Commander LaDon Reynolds said the police investigation is continuing.
