A bus rider was injured when she fell out the doors of a double-decker bus while it was travelling on the Pat Bay Highway.
B.C. Transit confirmed to the Times Colonist in a statement Thursday that it’s investigating the Sept. 24 incident, in which a passenger on the Route 70 bus from Swartz Bay to downtown fell out the doors of a “slow-moving” bus near the intersection of Beacon Avenue in Sidney and Highway 17.
“Our thoughts are with the person involved, who our organization remains in contact with. Safety is our top priority and B.C. Transit is currently carrying out an investigation into this matter,” the transit agency said.
The fall was the result of a mechanical issue with the door and not a result of operator error, the statement said.
B.C. Transit said the bus was “immediately removed” from service and all rear doors of similar bus models in its fleet were inspected and found to be operating properly.
Stephen Bains, president of Unifor Local 333 B.C., which represents Greater Victoria transit workers, said B.C. Transit buses have a safety feature where the door-opening switch is deactivated when the vehicle is in motion.
The incident report said the person who fell out was leaning against the rear door with heavy luggage, he said.
Another passenger, who did not want her name published, told the Times Colonist she saw the young woman fall through the vehicle’s rear doors just before 5:15 p.m. as the bus began to accelerate during a left turn from Beacon Avenue onto the Pat Bay Highway.
“I saw the top half of her go out the door,” said the passenger, who was in a front-facing seat two rows away. “Passengers started screaming, stop, stop the bus.”
The driver pulled over and helped the injured woman back onto the bus, along with her suitcase, which had also fallen out, she said.
The woman was scraped all down her arm from hitting the ground, the passenger said. “It was really horrible to see. It could’ve been really bad if it had been a child [or] an elderly person.”
Paramedics attended to the woman after she got off at a bus stop near Uptown shopping centre.
B.C. Emergency Health Services spokesperson Jane Campbell said in a statement that the patient was treated at the bus stop at the intersection of Kelvin Road and Douglas Street and did not require transport to hospital.
Victoria Transit Riders Union chair Christina Clemente said B.C. Transit should be more transparent and proactive with incident disclosures as long as privacy guidelines are followed.
“There should be reports on incidents,” she said. “People should be aware of what’s happening.”
Clemente said safety on buses was among the top concerns of riders in a recent survey conducted by her group.
As part of the investigation, B.C. Transit said it will review security-camera video of the incident and the double-decker bus will undergo a full inspection.
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