Abbotsford bus driver fears returning to work after violent assault

A bus ride through downtown Abbotsford wouldn’t normally be a place where bus driver Dallas Warner would expect trouble.

However, yesterday at rush hour with a bus half full of passengers, an out-of-control passenger sent the unsuspecting driver to hospital.

“At this point what is going through my mind is, I fear for my life,” says Warner, recalling the incident.

Warner’s trouble started when his bus by-passed a stop and had to let a passenger out at the next stop about 150 meters up the road.

When the passenger exited the bus he swore at Warner.

As Warner returned to this stop on his rounds, the passenger was waiting.

He didn’t pay for the ride, so Warner asked him to get off and that’s when the trouble started.

“I was hit five times, from the right side of my face,” says Warner.

Passengers called 9-1-1 and police arrived quickly, arresting a man known to them.

“We were able to locate the man and arrested him within blocks of the bus,” says Cst. Ian MacDonald of the Abbotsford Police.

“A 26-year-old man has been taken into custody and we are recommending charges against him.”

Warner is at home recuperating today with his wife, feeling like he had the stuffing kicked out of him.

He says he won’t be returning to work anytime soon, citing the safety issue and stress.

In Abbotsford, there are no cameras or panic buttons aboard, unlike buses on risky routes in Metro Vancouver where driver beatings have been a problem.

Although assaults are rare on Abbotsford buses, some operators say if we don’t address the safety concern, it’s just a matter of time before it happens again.

“I am threatened all the time, everything from people flipping me off to telling me they are going to smash my face in,” says fellow Abbotsford bus driver Elliot Johnson.

The trauma of the ordeal has left some permanent emotional scares for Warner.

The incident is making this seasoned driver wonder if he will ever be able to go back to work.

“The fear of going back and trying to drive a bus, you don’t know what’s going to happen, you could be driving a bus and you end up in a hospital,” he says.

Warner’s employer First Canada Bus Company says when things like this happen, safety is their paramount concern and they will be looking at reviewing their safety measure now in place.