Pickup driver comes forward in Nanaimo transit-bus death

The driver of a vehicle involved in a Nanaimo traffic incident on Friday that left a 56-year-old bus passenger dead has come forward to provide a statement to Nanaimo RCMP.

The 63-year-old Nanaimo man gave his statement Sunday.

The passenger died after being thrown from his seat and hitting his head when the bus had to stop suddenly to avoid colliding with another vehicle. He was pronounced dead in hospital.

Police said that the bus was heading west on Labieux Road about 5 p.m. when a pickup towing a trailer turned in front of it. It is possible the pickup’s driver was not aware of the situation, said police, who had issued a statement describing the pickup and trailer and calling for the driver to come forward.

B.C. Transit spokesman Drew Snider said the corporation does not know of any other deaths on board buses.

Another passenger on the bus at the time of the incident described what happened to CHEK News. “I just kind of saw him fly forward and roll over,” Cory Gregory said of the victim.

Gregory said he was sitting on the same side of the bus as the victim and his wife, who was in a wheelchair. The couple was near the front of the bus, he said. He said he saw a pickup come into the roadway, and that the bus driver hit the brakes twice — braking harder the second time.

“The truck pulled out,” Gregory said. “I don’t think [the bus driver] maybe saw the trailer because he was stopping and then when he saw the trailer he realized: ‘Well, OK, if I don’t fully brake we’re going to go right into the back of it.’ So then there was another big, harsher stop that sent the guy out of his seat.”