CLOSE CALL FOR CYCLIST
Bus ‘was so close to me’
A Windsor cyclist is accusing a city bus driver of jeopardizing his life after he was pinned against the curb on his bike Friday. “I understand there are accidents, but this was deliberate,” said Michael Underwood, owner of City Cyclery on Erie Street. “I think it was like a road rage incident. These guys are driving around, their No. 1 priority should be public safety. On the rear of the bus it says ‘share the road.’ So they should know the law when it comes to sharing the road. They ’re supposed to give us one metre distance. He definitely didn’t do that the first time, and the second time he was trying to run me off the road.” Pat Delmore, executive director of Transit Windsor, said the city has received a complaint and a supervisor has been assigned to look into it. But he said Saturday he won’t comment until the investigation is finished. Underwood said it happened around 2:40 p.m. Friday. He was pedalling east down Seminole Street and had just passed Drouillard Road.
“When I came around the turn just after the light, a bus came along side me and I could touch the bus, it was so close to me,” said Underwood. “It cut in front of me and stopped at the bus stop that was right there.” Underwood, annoyed by the close call, rode past the bus on the left side.
“I slapped the driver side window to get his attention and I put my hand up in the air, like what the hell?” said Underwood.
He kept riding down the road along the curb. A few blocks down the road, Underwood said the bus driver pulled up beside him. “He matched my speed and he was just staring at me,” said Underwood. “Then he drove a little bit forward so I was in the middle of the bus, and he started to turn in to me, pushing me into the curb. At one point, his front tire was touching the curb, my tires were touching the curb and my handle bars were touching the side of the bus.” Underwood said he had to slam on his brakes to avoid being crushed by the bus.
“He just kept going,” Underwood said of the bus driver. Witness Dan Johnstone said he was on the bus when it nearly drove over Underwood.
“I’ve had many problems with the bus already, but what happened yesterday was beyond absurd,” Johnstone said Saturday. “It isn’t right for a bus driver to do what he did.”
He said it looked like the bus driver tried “running ” the cyclist into the curb.
“He couldn’t go nowhere,” said Johnstone. “It’s not like he could have hopped onto the sidewalk. You have to share the road. Especially Transit Windsor, they should know that. It’s a big bus. He did it intentionally.” Johnstone said he realized something unusual was happening when the bus started swerving. He looked out the window and saw a cyclist fighting to avoid being pushed against the curb by the bus. “The bus driver kept looking at the cyclist like to push over,” said Johnstone. “But he can’t because the curb is right there. So the bus driver is swerving. The bus driver finally makes a move to actually cut off the cyclist. The ass end of the bus, I literally thought it hit the cyclist. I was like, oh my God. I saw the cyclist’s face, and he looked petrified.”
After taking a few minutes to calm his nerves and steady his shaking hands, Underwood said he rode straight home and started making calls to the city to complain.
“I think he should be held accountable for that,” said Underwood.
“If he’s going to do it to me, he’s going to do it to somebody else. I would hate to see somebody else get injured because of this. This was deliberate. I’ve never heard of somebody deliberately endangering somebody’s health and safety. That was completely uncalled for.”