Take a bus often enough and you’re likely to find yourself in a situation where you don’t have sufficient funds to pay the required fare. There are many options here; you can ask the driver to let you slide, ask your fellow passengers to help make up the difference, get off and get some cash and wait for the next bus. But one option that most certainly lands you in the “Bad Consumer” category is punching the driver in the face and causing the bus to crash into a tree.

Alas for the driver and passengers of a bus in Seattle’s University District, one impatient and underfunded passenger decided to go this route.

According to SeattlePI.com, the passenger had boarded the bus with only $1.50 of the $2.50 needed to get to his job. Angry that he’d be late for work, the man allegedly began slugging away on the driver, who subsequently lost control of the bus on the icy road and ended up parking on a tree trunk.

The driver, who was taken to the hospital, suffered bruises, a swollen face and a broken leg. The driver was bruised, had a swollen face and may have suffered a broken leg. He was taken to a hospital.

The purported puncher, who was still on the bus when police arrived on the scene, was taken into custody.

SeattlePI reports that this particular bus is equipped with a video camera, meaning we await the eventual airing of this incident on one of those late-night caught-on-camera shows.

Passenger hits Metro bus driver in fare dispute, causes wreck [SeattlePI.com]

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