Transit drivers assaulted

Despite an overall decline, last week saw an unusual spike in physical assaults against bus drivers in the Central Okanagan.

Two incidents where drivers were physically assaulted by passengers took place last week in Kelowna, a statistic which Transit General Manager, Mike Docherty, says is unprecedented.

“Over the last eight years we’ve had a total of 29 assaults on drivers, 21 of which were physical, the other eight being verbal. But last week we had two drivers physically assaulted,” says Docherty.

He says the first incident took place after a mentally deranged man started using foul language to other passengers.

“The driver told the man to stop using that language or he’d have to get off. The man started walking to the front of the bus where the front doors were open. The driver took his eyes off him for a second and the man hit him on the side of the head.”

Docherty says the second incident took place a few days later on a bus heading towards the Queensway bus stop.

“An individual became irate because the driver wasn’t calling ahead to the other bus. He slapped the driver’s shoulder.”

He says in both incidents, the individuals were recognized by the drivers as regular transit users. Police are searching for the assailant from the first incident, who will likely face assault charges. The second individual is facing charges.

“We have a standard policy in place after events like this. We sit down with the driver and help them defuse after an emotional situation. We provide counselling and we look at the circumstances that took place. We have found in these situations over the years, a lot of the drivers were leaving the driving area to deal with irate, vocal passengers and that would sometimes lead to an incident escalating.”

Docherty says they now have a policy that teaches drivers to ’disengage’ from such incidents.

“We train our drivers to try and stay apart from these types of incidents. The intent is to not get involved with the passenger, but to get them off the bus for everyone’s safety. We also have a buddy system in place. If a driver notices a passenger who is under the influence of something, they will keep in constant communication. That way if a problem does arise, we can send the nearest bus to provide support. Often the transit bus will arrive before the police.”

He says the policies have help reduce the amount of assaults.

“Kelowna Transit System is a very safe system to ride. We are finding that the more accessible we become to the public, the more people use the system. The more people that use the system, the safer it becomes.”