Consumerist
UPDATE: Here is the full video of the incident (32 MB, ZIP).
On February 21, 2007, I was taking my 4 year old special needs child to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). It was around 2:50pm and we got to the TriMet bus which was on layover (Line 12). I smelled something coming from my son and considered the possibility that he may have a dirty diaper (thankfully, he's out of them now).He's also set up a site to voice his grievance: I Hate TriMetSo I asked the bus driver if she would be willing to let me on the bus so I can change his diaper and then toss it away outside the bus so it wasn't on the bus the whole trip up to Portland (about an hour).
She said that it was against TriMet policy to change a diaper on the bus and to use the bathrooms across the street. She was getting ready to leave and I wouldn't have been able to go to the restrooms and be sure to catch the bus (It was the last bus that would've gotten us there while it was still open).
So I mentioned to her that I could change the diaper now (there was no place to change him outside as the area had no bench and had pretty sharp rocks along the side of the road), or I could change it while on the bus.
She got very upset at this and started screaming at me. I took it in stride and figured either I could wait an hour or I could miss the bus and have a screaming child who was promised OMSI and now isn't going. So I picked the hour.
After about 5 mins., the bus pulled forward and the driver announced that I wasn't allowed to board the bus. She told everyone to go around the corner where there is no stop and she will pick them up there.
So as the crown started moving towards that area, I followed along. Now, I'm overweight and I was holding my sons hand (who had started already crying because the bus was leaving for OMSI and we weren't on it). The bus came to a stop in the middle of the street and there were cars on the right hand side. Everyone had about a 3 foot gap to come up to the bus.
I was the last one to get there and as I got to the door, she closed it and started driving away. I started banging on the window to try and get her to stop and she didn't. I was in plain view when I tripped and a second later, my son saw me get run over by a bus and the meat on my left leg get ripped off.
I had 7 surgeries and a month in the hospital (racking up around $100,000 in medical costs). The lawyer that I got said that they are dropping the case because I can be considered to be at least 50% responsible (She didn't want me on the bus and I attempted to get on, so she gets to run over me). TriMet is (of course) denying any wrongdoing (in fact, according to the police report, they told police that the bus didn't run over my leg even though the doctors in ER saw the tire prints on the muscle I had left).
So now.. I essentially have to eat the costs of the medical (and have a deformed leg for the rest of my life) because I wanted to ride the bus and take my kid to OMSI.
I have a video of the accident and you can see that I remain calm during the whole process. The bus driver said that she was scared for her life, but shouldn't she have called the police if she was?
Comments
The trip to the museum could have probably waited.
Assault with a deadly weapon? Child endangerment anyone? If the kid had fallen to close to the tires what then?
Puffed up little toadies working for the PUBLIC have no business inventing policies like run away from the citizen who has not broken the rule only asked about the rule.
Not the driver's bus you know.
Did anyone else notice this guy shattered the window on the bus? I'm not sure how "calm" you are when you shatter a window on a vehicle. Also, you can see people behind this guy trying to get the bus also, so I DO believe the driver was scared, which is why she took off.
As for calling the police, I'm sure policy is to try to get away from someone rather than sit there and wait for the cops to show.
@Freedomboy:
Ok, what about child engangerment charges against the dad?
He was told he could not change the child on the bus, and was advised where he could do so. He tried circumventing these options, and was pounding on a moving bus.
I agree, the driver's actions were poorly chosen. But so were the victim's.
The assessment that he was 50% at fault seems accurate to me.
where's Vawanda when you need her most?
@GitEmSteveDave: If you look at the video, the window was smashed right when the guy was ran over, probabaly trying to catch his balance before falling under the wheels.
As for being scared? That doesnt excuse running OVER a rider, or going to the wrong bus stop.
OK so revoke the Dad's pedestrian license and the driver's right to operate a public vehicle, seems fair.
As a non-driver I am constantly amazed that drivers and driver types feel the car/truck/bus/whatever is somehow going to be hurt/killed by the person and not the other way around.
Not placing any blame on him, but common sense says "why not change the kid and just wait for the next bus." Depending on the day they are only 10-15 minutes apart (weekends they may be 30 min apart, depending on time of day). Doesn't seem worth creating a scene... As with any business, they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, right?
@Murph1908:
The assessment that he was 50% at fault seems accurate to me.
That seems to be the case to me as well. The driver was acting pretty ridiculous but Philip chose to run after the bus and was banging on the door. Around here, there are signs at large bus stops telling riders not to run after the bus and/or bang on the doors after they've been closed. It's not as if the bus driver swerved onto the curb and struck him.
Both parties could have done something to prevent this, which sounds like 50% at fault to me.
as much as it sounds like this guy provoked the bus driver, i'm pretty sure it's illegal to run someone over with a bus.
@Falconfire: Actually, the window was fine until you see the gentleman approach the door. As soon as the driver starts pulling away, he shatters the window and the guy in the green jumps back a little. Then you can see the guy in the lower cam as he is on the side of the bus till he trips.
Also, please note the people behind the gentleman as he approaches the bus who appear to be trying to get on. Given the gentlemans size, and also the we don't know what the driver looked like (small frame maybe?), I can believe she had a genuine fear for hers and the passengers safety, and tried to remove them all from the situation. Given the other passengers trying to get on, when he clearly states,
"I was the last one to get there and as I got to the door, she closed it and started driving away. I started banging on the window to try and get her to stop and she didn't."
He was NOT the last one to try to get on, and she closed the door on him for a reason. He also says, "I have a video of the accident and you can see that I remain calm during the whole process. Smashing a window is by NO means calm.
The reader should look into "medical bankruptcy." And an anger management course.
The father of a friend who told her: Never go a day without medical insurance. Heeding that advice put her in a much better place when she learned she had leukemia. Now that she survived the cancer, the bills aren't coming around to kill her.
We often get angriest when we really blame ourselves -- it's called projection -- and I suspect this is true of a parent who gets barely manages to get their kid to the last bus late in the afternoon.
@jodles: Are they looking to prove the bus driver was malicious, and thus purposely hit him with a bus? Because the OP admitted that he tripped. He didn't specify that the bus driver swerved the bus, or drove the bus toward him (which I would've thought was important if I were the one who was run over, and I was trying to establish blame). He said he tripped, and in the video he was pretty close to a parked car. It looks like he tripped on the car, fell down, and that is when he was run over. Certainly, if the driver had intentionally maneuvered the bus to hit him, it would show malice, but that bus was driving steady and straight.
I would also ask the OP, what the frak were you doing running after a bus? With a child? Can we say "child endangerment" and "what a looney"?
They are both wrong. This driver should be in trouble though for leaving the scene of an accident.
Sad story but it's just ignorant to say that she struck him with the bus with any intent. He put himself into a dangerous situation and the bus driver reacted poorly.
When a lawyer doesn't want to take the case, you know you got nothing.
Here is a brief aside. As a bigger fellow, I often have to compose myself in confrontations quicker then other people. When I start raising my voice it comes off much more intimidating then when a slighter man does the same thing. One of my friends who is black taught me this, as he obviously runs into the same reaction.
@sonichghog: The driver didn't leave the scene. If I hit someone with a car, I don't immediately stop where I hit the person and proceed not an inch further. You can see in the video that she stops the bus, and the passengers get out to see what happened.
@ArtDonovansLoveChild.: I used to work with a lot of women in my one job, and a few of them had said they were intimidated by me (5'10" 240ish @ the time) at first, but realized that I'm just a lovable little fuzzball later.
Another idiot parent that thinks trying to catch a bus running with his kid is better that taking care of changing his kid first, then get the bus.
The bus driver was obviously trying to get away, not purposely trying to run anybody over.
Am I the only one who has NO FUCKING IDEA whats going on in this video, other than a guy in a green jacket getting on and off a bus???
@BigNutty: What I thought...
It took me a long time to figure out, keep your eye on a guy wearing red, and for the first vid on the top left keep your eye on the window to the right of the bus door.
@AlisonAshleigh: I had a problem understanding the video too, mostly because it was a composite of several screens. watch the video again, and you'll see him get run over on the bottom left screen. It was the only one that I knew showed what happened.
Is anyone else confused by that? Why mention "I could change it while on the bus" if you've just been told it's their policy that you can't? The bus driver probably assumed he was going to change his kid on the bus anyway and that's why she didn't want to let him on.
That does not excuse running him over. Also, fearing for her life sounds like a lie.
Complete Bull Shit.
I ride the 12 all the freaking time it runs every 15 minutes, he would have been 15 minutes late. (Woopde doo, I bet that's better then being hit by a bus)
The bus driver is under no obligation to let you board when they have left the curb, you standing a foot from the bus doors smashing a window in shows that you were not acting calm or normal, she had every right to leave you in the dust. Oh and you're a moron for getting that close to a bus in the street with your child.
The driver should not have gone but I damn well know if I was her I would have taken off the instant he started hitting the door. Not to mention its not like she swerved the bus at him she just started driving in a straight line it was his own fault for being in the street trying to board a bus, if he was on the curb this never would have happened.
He's a moron who endangered his kid because he did not want to wait.
Also do we know that the bus driver was even saw that he got hit by the bus?
Seems to me what he should be doing right now is thanking the Lord that it was him who got run over rather than his son who he brought into the street to chase a bus.
@CaffeinatedSquint:
OH!!!
...I thought he was a woman??? I'm so confused!
Wow, this is one of the most awful things I have read here. Well, actually, I've read millions of awful things here, but this is right up there.
Come on people, I know we have somebody reading this that could give Phillip a hand...
Yeah, another parent thinking the world revolves around them because of their choice to reproduce....he complains there was no place at the bus stop to change his kid, and they wouldn't let him do it on the bus. I'm sure there was a bathroom SOMEWHERE around the bus stop. Was this the last bus for the day or something? I wouldn't want his kid's biomedical waste around me on the bus either.
I think more likely: Big fat guy that is angry all the time at being fat and having to take care of a screaming brat gets furious when his kid makes his life even more difficult with a poop at a bad time. He screams at the bus driver and tries to flout the rules. She tries to make her rounds...he gets pissed and busts out a window then trips and gets himself run over.
Who in the world would think it reasonable to change their child's diaper on the bus rather than in a convenient nearby restroom? If I were a fellow passenger on that bus and he tried to change a diaper I would have raised holy hell. Is this man out of his mind? He made some incredibly poor decisions and now he has to live with them. The driver didn't handle herself too well either, but - yeah, 50% sounds about right.
If he had just gotten on the bus with a kid who smelled what was the problem?
Plenty of smelly adults get on the bus.
I think her refusal to let him on the bus isn't justified because the only reason she would not want him on the bus is because of the smell. Which isn't against policy, unless someone knows of a policy prohibiting smelly people on the bus.
He should sue again, for discrimination. Unless there is something I'm not hearing here. Why should a public transportation line be allowed to refuse service to people that have babies with dirty diapers?!?
@AlisonAshleigh: I had to watch it several times.
Given the gentlemans size, and also the we don't know what the driver looked like (small frame maybe?),
@GitEmSteveDave: So now fat people are scary?
I also only see one person behind him in the video before the bus starts moving. Maybe he didn't think she was trying to get on the bus?
50%???? The driver of the bus has the obligation to drive her bus in a safe manner. Once she saw the man was alongside her bus she had the obligation to stop. Everyone is writing as if he saw a bus passing by and chased it down, instead he suddenly saw the door closing in his face and banged on the door to get her attention. He was understandably upset becuase the driver was going out of her way to avoid letting him on the bus. The bus driver took legal responsibility once she decided to pick passengers up outside the designated bus stop. But for her decision he would not have been injured.
I would say that if a driver sees it is
*very* likely that someone is going to chase the bus, they shouldn't drive off but rather call the police and have the person removed if they seem dangerous.
I think this is another one of those cases where even if you feel you have rights as a consumer that are being violated but the circumstances are a bit questionable, you should just wait and address them later (like the guy with his iphone on the plane probably should have done).
He could have done something like changed the boy, called a cab, and then used the consumerist to help him complain to the bus company and get his cab fare compensated. ("last bus of the day won't wait 5 minutes for you to change your child's diaper")
I also think he's 50% at fault. He put himself in danger by running after the bus and the driver apparently reacted poorly to the situation. But I get the feeling there's more to the story, especially if his lawyer dropped the case.
Why on earth does he feel entitled to change his kid's diaper on the bus? Seriously?! How anyone could change their child's feces-splattered, bateria-laden disposable undergarments in full view on public transportation is beyond me. He could have done it in the restroom the driver pointed out to him and waited 15 minutes for the next bus like a civilized person. But no, he went apeshit and paid the price. So instead of going to OMSI, his child instead got to see the wheels on the bus go round and round, all over his dad.
@warf0x0r: that sounds fairly reasonable to me--the driver could have told him to get on but not change the diaper during the ride.
I think the driver is 100% in the wrong.
Regardless of what jerkish moron this guy was being, she shouldn't have put the bus in motion with someone that close to it, unless he was flashing a gun or something (ESPECIALLY when he has a child with him). The door is closed--she's safe. She can call the cops right then. Informing him that she had would probably make him leave anyway.
Ben, please. "Philip fell and got RUN over." not ran.
@Rectilinear Propagation: There's two people, whom you can see about 9 seconds in in the bottom cam.
But as for the fat comment, the gentleman looks to be about 300lbs+ (I speak from personal experience having hit 285 once). He was upset enough to SHATTER a window on a bus, which are more than likely designed to be more shatter proof than most windows just for safety and cost savings. If the driver was a woman of lets say 130ish weight, and also of an unknown age, an large irate gentleman coming at you would be scary enough.
Now we also don't know what the other passengers were saying, or what preceded this clip. Maybe the guy who was last on said "Get the hell out of here, I think he's gonna snap!", which would add to the fear, and make her want to drive away.
I have been searching for a news story, which would tend to be less emotional than the victims account, but no luck as of late. I would like to see the "facts".
aside from every other angle on this, who the hell thinks it's okay to change your kid on the bus? he sounds like a flaky ass father who doesn't have it together enough to plan ahead. not to excuse the driver either but something about this guy seems really off.
@warf0x0r:
Why should a public transportation line be allowed to refuse service to people that have babies with dirty diapers?!?
The guy flat out said "So I mentioned to her that I could change the diaper now ... or I could change it while on the bus."
He was going to get on the bus and change the kid, despite the driver's stating that he could not do that.
@impudence:
The victim took responsibility when he tried forcing his way onto a bus he was told he could not board, then deciding to break the window instead of backing off.
@SJActress: He was upset(even though he claims he was calm) enough to BREAK a window. I think we were well past the "I'm gonna call the cops" phase by that point. Given that emotional state, I don't believe he was very rational.
I missed a train once just as the door was closing, and I know someone saw me. Did I punch a dent into the train. No. There's something more to this when the video discounts the victims account.
TriMet has a history of running people over
[www.portlandtribune.com]
[bikeportland.org]
I always give the buses a wide berth
@AlisonAshleigh:
I thought it was a woman too! I must've watched the video 10 times and gave up until I saw the other posts.
@GitEmSteveDave: What danger could he have posed,though? Even if he smashed the windows, practically speaking, I do not see how he could have fit into any opening he created by doing that.
The driver could have waited and called t