Video: Global National’s Shirlee Engel explains how friends are mourning those killed in the Ottawa bus crash this week.
OTTAWA – Why didn’t the driver stop?
It’s the question riders involved in this week’s fatal bus crash are asking as they grapple with why they survived – and six others didn’t.
As investigators revealed Friday the train, track and signals were functioning correctly, the focus officially shifted to the bus operations, mechanics, the sight-lines of the level crossing, and driver Dave Woodard, who also died in the crash.
Watch: Sean Mallen reports from Ottawa
Bus union president Craig Watson said Woodard had a decade of experience and had been driving the same stretch of road in southwest Barrhaven for years, but his route had switched this month, as is standard practice. Woodard’s wife, Terry, has said her husband was an experienced driver in good health.
According to witnesses aboard the bus, Woodard did not slow down as he approached the train.
“From my perception, the speed did not get reduced,” said Gregory Mech, who was sitting on the second level of the double-decker bus.
Mech said he didn’t have a direct view of the driver but he heard people on the bus yelling for him to slow down.
“The lights were flashing and the barriers were down.”
Ajoy Bista, who was also on the second level, said he noticed when he boarded the bus that Woodard was new but there was nothing unusual about him.
Bista said he felt the driver accelerate as the bus approached the railway crossing.
“I think he pressed the gas at least,” said the father of two.
“My theory is he was sick or maybe just passed out, or I don’t know. But I still have a question, why did he keep pressing on the gas?”
He said the bus may have slowed down at the end, but it could have been a result of the bus hitting the barrier or the impact.
“To me the biggest thing is the train. You cannot miss it.” Bista said he has been struggling since the accident and had a “breakdown” while driving past the scene Friday.
Another rider Eric Nelson, headphones in ears, saw the bus approach the railway crossing, where the bar was down and lights were flashing.
“Just about everybody in the bus yelled out something. ‘Hey, stop, slow down,’” Nelson said. “But by that point I think it was already too late. We smashed through the gate.”
Nelson says he felt a force pull back, but he couldn’t say whether it was a last minute attempt of the driver to brake or the force of the bus hitting the railway guard.
For a split second after the bus burst through the barrier, Nelson thought maybe they missed the train. But then he started to see the walls and floors collapse and people fall outside amongst a storm of debris.
Why the bus driver didn’t stop for the train is still a mystery that is being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board. Nelson, who is expecting a baby in a month, says he’ll be following the investigation closely, but is going to focus on getting on with his life.
“As far as I’m concerned this was a tragic accident,” he said.
“To me it was just a matter of pure luck that I went right instead of going left at the top of a staircase.”
Video: Passenger Ajoy Bista is trying to come to terms with what happened and what he saw.
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