An East Residential CABS bus on 17th Avenue.
Credit: Logan Hickman / Campus editor
A Campus Area Bus Service driver is expected to return to duty roughly a week after the bus he was operating struck a pedestrian off-campus.
Columbus Division of Police officers issued the CABS driver a citation for failing to yield and hitting a pedestrian on North Fourth Street and East 13th Avenue on Monday morning, CPD spokeswoman Denise Alex-Bouzounis said. That driver will be returning to work next week, although the incident is still undergoing a formal review process, Administration and Planning spokesman Dan Hedman said in a Wednesday email.
“Transportation & Traffic Management has a thorough review process and takes every incident of this nature very seriously. This process includes a review and understanding of any information available from CPD (which responded to the incident and gathered information) as well as a review of any other relevant records,” Hedman said in the email.
The incident happened Monday at about 10:30 a.m. when the pedestrian was attempting to cross North Fourth Street. The pedestrian told police that when he began crossing North Fourth Street eastbound at East 13th Avenue, no vehicles were coming toward him, Alex-Bouzounis said.
At the time the pedestrian started crossing the street, the CABS bus was stopped at a bus stop also on North Fourth Street just south of East 13th Avenue, Alex-Bouzounis said. She said the bus driver told officers he didn’t see the pedestrian and began moving the bus forward when he then struck the pedestrian.
The pedestrian was taken to Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center in stable condition, a CPD dispatcher said Monday. The pedestrian is not affiliated with the university, OSU spokesman Gary Lewis said in a Monday email.
Alex-Bouzounis said the CPD report does not state how fast the driver was going when he struck the pedestrian, but noted the roads were wet at the time of the incident.
Hedman said the driver has worked for CABS for three years and had never been issued a citation prior to Monday’s incident.
“It is important to note that prior to this incident the driver had a spotless record and is a valued team member with many years of experience,” Hedman said.
The dispatcher said the incident report does not state if anyone besides the bus driver was on the bus at the time of the incident.
