תקיפת נהג האוטובוסצילום: ארגון נהגי האוטובוס, הסתדרות לאומית

A bus driver was physically assaulted in Beit Shemesh Monday night, after he refused to allow a passenger to board the bus with an electric bicycle.

The incident occurred on a line 14 bus in Beit Shemesh operated by the Superbus company, when the driver refused to allow the passenger to get on the bus with his bike.

The passenger and several of his friends forced the doors of the bus open and tried to tear them out from the bus.

After the passenger and his friends managed to force the doors open, one of the suspects brought a stick to beat the driver, while his friends made sure the doors remained open.

One of the suspects verbally assaulted the driver and threatened him.

When the driver refused to respond to the threats, he was physically attacked. Thanks to the barrier installed to protect bus drivers, the driver was not injured in the attack.

The driver claimed that one of the assailants tried to take control of the bus, endangering the lives of the passengers.

"Once again we see how bus drivers have become the scapegoats of lawbreakers," said the bus drivers' union in a statement. "This violence will stop only when bus drivers are recognized as public workers. It is unthinkable for us to go back to seeing this kinds of images on a daily basis. Now more than ever we are in danger of having a driver be murdered at the wheel."