Video reportedly showing bus driver using a handheld device while driving under investigation

A video, reportedly showing a bus driver using a handheld device while driving, has now been suspended by the bus company.

Margaret Foster, who was a passenger in another vehicle, captured a Universal bus driver appearing to be on a smart phone while driving. Foster says the bus was full of passengers.

She spotted the driver on Highway 1, near Chilliwack, on Sunday evening.

“You can see in the video that he’s looking at the phone and he looks like he’s doing something with his finger,” says Foster.

“He didn’t even see us beside him and hear the horn, so his attention was fully on the phone.”

Andrew Karwowski, the regional manager of Universal Coach Line, tells Global News they have a zero tolerance policy for using handheld devices while driving. The company is doing an investigation and identified the bus driver. Karwowski says they have had no previous problems with this driver.

Lindsay Moir, vice-president of Universal Coach Line, says they are aware of the video and are taking it very seriously.

“At the moment, until we find out exactly what happened, this driver is on suspension,” Moir says.

“We’ll be looking at determining how long this suspension may take place and we have to know what happened. We don’t quite know what happened yet. Our first priority is the safety of our passengers and if we feel like this driver isn’t living up to these standards, we can’t have him.”

After being shown the video of the Universal Coach bus driver, Minister of Transportation Todd Stone said “clearly stiffer penalties are required when you see videos like this.”

“It would be outrageous to me to think that an individual charged with the responsibility of not just his own life but dozens of passengers onboard would be looking at a phone while driving,” Stone says.

Distracted driving is the second-highest contributing factor in fatal car crashes in B.C. The province recently completed a four-week consultation process on July 16; which looked at B.C.’s penalties for distracted driving.

Currently, B.C. drivers ticketed for distracted driving face three penalty points and a $167 fine, which is the second lowest fine in Canada.

Ontario recently passed legislation to change the maximum fine to $1,000.

In Nova Scotia, fines were increased from $176 to $234 for a first offence, and from $350 to $579 for any subsequent offences this February.

This coach driver was not involved in the Universal bus crash on the Coquihalla Highway in June. Thirty-eight people were hurt after that bus slammed into a tow truck.

Last week the province announced it was launching a review of the motor coach industry in response to a string of serious crashes.

“We’ve had two very serious collisions in B.C. in the last couple of years. Thankfully no one lost their life but many people were injured.”