Bus driver attacked by passenger after forgetting to open back door
Birani reportedly suffered a head injury and was rushed to the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, where he received medical treatment.
By TOBIAS SIEGALSuperbus(photo credit: Sam Sokol)
A bus driver from Haifa was brutally attacked by a passenger on Monday, according to a statement from the Superbus bus company.Gasan Birani has been driving on the 55 bus line in Haifa for years. He never expected to be attacked by a passenger after accidentally forgetting to open the back door during one of his routine stops."After forgetting to open the back door in one of the stops, without any prior warning, a furious passenger came up to me and started hitting me on the head," Birani said.Birani reportedly suffered a head injury and was rushed to the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, where he received medical treatment.Superbus driver Gasan Birani suffered a head injury after being attacked by a passenger, Nov. 16, 2020. (Credit: Superbus/Courtesy)The Superbus workers' committee has already announced that starting next week it will be initiating protests and activities meant to raise awareness to the issue of violence directed towards bus drivers and public sector employees."We won't tolerate any form of violence against bus drivers. We won't tolerate the wild behavior by some passengers, and we won't tolerate the lack of minimal protective means, which we have been demanding for a long time!," a statement by the Superbus workers' committee read.The Superbus workers' committee has been negotiating the issue of installing protective barriers in buses with the company's management for several months now. The process of approving and installing the barriers, which could have prevented Monday's harsh attack, has been repeatedly postponed.The issue of installing protective barriers for bus drivers surfaced in recent months in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.In July, several transportation companies in Israel threatened to go on strike as bus drivers felt like they were not sufficiently protected in light of the novel coronavirus.
While driver's unions have been warning about the dangers posed to bus drivers for years, no action has been taking so far to improve their protection, and violent incidents against bus drivers have remained a recurring incident.
