A Kelowna mom is worried it’s just a matter of time before someone is hurt, after witnessing a public transit bus strike another vehicle at the roundabout outside the H2O Centre.
Laura Brasnett shared dash camera video of what she called a “road rage” incident on Friday, Oct. 20, at 5:15 p.m. She says the male bus driver left the scene, even though witnesses were yelling for him to stop.
She complained to Kelowna Regional Transit. After first being told that the driver was removed from service, a manager for operations company Transdev Canada got back to her and said the driver was back on the job.
An email from the manager that Brasnett shared with Castanet said the driver is very remorseful and the incident is “very much outside of this driver’s normal behavior”. The email goes on to say that there have been a number of near misses and close calls in that area, and that people are parking illegally in the roundabout off Gordon Drive. The manager said Transdev would be escalating the issue with the City of Kelowna for review.
That’s something the mother of two agrees with. She wants changes to the parking and bus routes outside the H2O Centre.
“Kids have been clipped by mirrors going through that roundabout. A toddler was almost run over and a driver didn’t see it,” she said, explaining that many parents use the area to drop off and pick up children and youth who take part in swimming and other programs at the facility.
“They don’t want parents using that roadway in front of H2O, but we want the buses out of there because it’s unsafe. The reason that parents drop off there is because those buses are blowing through the crosswalks and they’re going through there at a high rate of speed.
“It’s only a matter of time before somebody gets hurt,” said Brasnett, whose two children are swim club members.
She reported the apparent hit and run to Kelowna RCMP, who are investigating.
“The bus driver, what happened was, that silver SUV that went through the roundabout was still moving. But they were newer to Kelowna, so he was trying to figure out what was happening, and this bus, he was on his horn the entire way through the roundabout,” Brasnett explained.
She says the SUV driver was trying to find a place to get out of the way when the bus “rammed into him”. She was worried two youth who were loading their bags into the back of a car in front of the SUV were going to get pinned, but luckily, they were not hurt.
Castanet contacted BC Transit, which said it is aware of an incident involving a bus making contact with a third party vehicle outside the H2O Centre in Kelowna on October 20.
“We are grateful there were no injuries as a result of this incident,” said BC Transit in an emailed statement.
“When incidents involving BC Transit buses and infrastructure occur in our regional systems, our contracted operating partners who deliver service on BC Transit’s behalf follow a standard reporting process. From there, it is determined if an internal investigation is warranted. This usually includes review of CCTV footage if available and interviews with all necessary transit employees involved.”
The statement said that BC Transit is assisting the Kelowna RCMP with the investigation and will also be conducting an internal investigation.
