
Passengers say a bus driver in Jerusalem threatened them and refused to let anyone off the bus, after one passenger refused orders to remove a bicycle.
The incident occurred in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of northeastern Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon at approximately 4:15 when a passenger brought a bicycle onto an Egged bus from line 59.
According to eyewitnesses, the driver told the passenger that the Egged bus company did not permit bicycles to be brought inside of the bus, but the passenger refused to follow the driver's instructions.
As other passengers were boarding the bus, the driver shouted that he would not continue on his route until someone removed the bicycle from the bus.
According to Efraim H., a Jerusalem resident who was traveling on the bus with his 8-year-old daughter, the driver made U-turn, and began driving back towards the beginning of his route.
Despite pleas by passengers that the driver let them leave the bus, the driver refused to open the doors, driving back towards the beginning of the line route.
When Efraim approached him, the driver made a threatening motion, Efraim said.
“Immediately upon entering the bus the driver refused to continue, demanding someone remove a bicycle. He then returned to his seat and made a U-turn, heading deeper into the neighborhood.”
“I quickly went to the driver demanding he let us off, at which point he attempted to hit me when I reached for my tablet to take a picture of him.”
Eventually the driver relented and allowed the passengers to leave the bus.
“Finally he opened the doors, after my daughter who was left in tears, begged me to get off. All of the kids on the bus were crying, they were freaked out. Afterwards, the bus continued to the bottom of the neighborhood.”
A complaint was filed with Egged against the driver, though no response has yet been received from the company.