Detroit bus driver gets 6 months in jail for killing pedestrian

DETROIT — A Detroit bus driver who had kept her job despite a record of crashes and aggressive driving was sentenced to at least six months in jail Thursday for killing a pedestrian.

It was the second time that Geraldine Johnson’s bus had struck and killed someone.

“I was flabbergasted at the driving history,” Judge E. Lynise Bryant said.

Janice Bauer, 67, was hit by a city bus while walking in downtown Detroit in June 2023. She was a regular bus rider and coincidentally worked for a regional transit agency.

Johnson, 61, pleaded no contest to a moving violation causing death, a misdemeanor.

The judge went over Johnson’s driving record, noting many crashes even after the death of a man who was hit in 2015 while trying to remove his bike from the front of her bus.

Johnson didn’t return to work for more than 18 months. Under a union contract, she wasn’t disciplined for the death because of the long period off the job, officials said.

Bryant said Johnson should have questioned her own ability to drive after “more than your fair share of crashes.”

“I need to say, ‘Hold on. Something’s not right. Something is off with me. Must be my perception, my ability — my something,’ ” the judge said.

Johnson didn’t speak in court.

“She simply didn’t see her. This was not an intentional act,” defense attorney Sharon Clark Woodside said.

A union official last year told The Detroit News that Johnson wasn’t always at fault in crashes.

In court, three siblings told the judge about their love for Bauer. “Janice wasn’t finished living. She had places to go, things to do and people to see,” Linda Bauer said.

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