The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round — over a bike that fell off the bus’s rack on Highway 103 near Upper Tantallon.
And Halifax Transit is responsible for the bike that was “damaged beyond repair,” according to a small claims court decision released Friday.
Before getting on the Halifax Transit bus at the Albemarle Street stop on March 27, 2019, Curtis Heddon put his bike on the rack at the front of the bus as he had done many times before.
“He gave the bicycle a firm shake to ensure it was secure. It was. He then boarded the bus, which then departed,” wrote adjudicator Augustus Richardson in his decision.
As the bus made its way from downtown Halifax to Tantallon, it hit two bumps in the road in the left lane of Highway 103 just before Exit 5.
“These bumps have been there for some time — they were not new,” Richardson wrote.
After going over the bumps, the bus driver noticed the rear wheel of Heddon’s bike was leaning over, so he tried to shift lanes and pull over to re-secure the bike.
But before he could pull over, the bike fell off the rack and was run over by the bus.
The bus driver pulled over so Heddon could get out, take photos of his mangled bike and bring it back to the bus.
“The damage was severe enough to make it a write off,” Richardson said.
The bus continued on to Tantallon, where a supervisor inspected the damaged bike and bike rack.
A few days later, Jason Kehoe, a bus mechanic, also inspected the rack and found the rubber bumper stop was gone and had a bolt with nuts installed in its place, causing the bike rack to not stow properly.
“There was nothing on the bus in question suggesting that use of the rack was at the owner’s risk,” Richardson said. “Nor is there any such notice on the test rack that customers can use to learn how to use the racks on HRM buses.”
Richardson said while he accepts that bumps and jolts are “usual and common events on buses,” the bike rack “proved to be inadequate for its purpose.”
“The defendant owed a duty of care in negligence and in its contract of carriage to provide equipment that was reasonably fit for the purpose intended, which purpose included holding a properly secured bicycle securely while rolling over bumps at highway speed,” Richardson wrote.
Heddon was granted $1,076.23 for the loss of his bike, which was “virtually brand new at the time of its destruction,” plus costs of $100.
