B.C. Ferries extends ban for driver who drove at employee, reminds public not to assault staff
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:32:39 +0000
A B.C. Ferries passenger has received a one-year travel ban after charging a staff member at the Langdale ferry terminal with his vehicle.
The incident occurred Oct. 15, around 6 a.m, when a man driving a Ford Explorer tried to get out of his line and nearly hit a ferry employee. The driver, who was in his 50s, was attempting to make the 6:30 a.m. ferry to the Sunshine Coast, which was full.
“We were in an overload situation. The customer was trying to get out of the line to board … and the employee motioned for the person to stop,” B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said.
The driver ignored the worker and barrelled ahead, and came “awfully close,” requiring the employee to jump out of the way, said Marshall.
RCMP was called to the scene and issued the driver a ticket for failing to obey the traffic controller. The man also received an immediate, one-day ban from ferry travel, which B.C. Ferries management decided to upgrade to one full year Thursday, according to a news release.
Thursday’s announcement also serves as a surprisingly necessary reminder that, per the release, “B.C. Ferries is committed to prevention of violence in its workplace.”
The ban is one of seven year-long bans the company has issued in just the past two weeks.
B.C. Ferries described two of the other instances of aggressive behaviour in its release.
On Oct. 17, a passenger was banned from the service after threatening to shoot an employee at the Horseshoe Bay Terminal.
On Oct. 22, another employee was assaulted by passenger on the Coastal Celebration.
Collins said the recent uptick in aggressive behaviour appeared less a troubling trend than a sign of the high-stress holiday season.
“Thanksgiving is the busiest weekend of the year,” he explained. “People get frustrated when they can’t get on the sailing of their choice.”
While the vast majority of people are respectful and understanding, Collins qualified, incidents like these happen, especially at peak times. When they do, the company will not hesitate to exercise their authority to ban passengers.
“In light of this particularly brazen one, or this brazen three that we outline in the release, we said it was time maybe to tell people that such behaviour gets you banned from the ferry for a year,” he said.
B.C. Ferries, which by law can refuse passage to someone, said it has security on board its vessels and at terminals, and will contact the authorities if needed.
with files from Cheryl Chan
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