The Amalgamated Transit Union’s local chapter is speaking out regarding a sentence handed down to a man who assaulted a Kelowna bus driver.
Kelowna man Chris Habberjam, 23, received six months of house arrest and six additional months of an 8 pm curfew for assaulting Peter Lansing.
It began with a verbal dispute while Lansing was working an evening shift in March 2019.
Habberjam escalated the situation and started physically beating Lansing, dragging him out of his driver’s seat and causing the bus to crash into a concrete barrier.
Langsing sustained lasting physical and psychological injuries, which have caused him to be off the job for nearly two years now.
“This just isn’t enough of a deterrent especially when most of us are already forced to stay inside due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Al Peressini, president of Kelowna ATU local 1722.
“Lansing lost his career, income, relationships and has sustained multiple injuries both physical and psychological; drivers need more protection than this.”
It was only two days after the attack on Lansing that BC Transit announced it would install physical shields in all city buses to protect drivers.
However, Di Nino says there are still more than 2,000 reported assaults on bus drivers every year.
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