Woman thankful to be alive after unmanned Halifax bus comes ‘barreling’ towards her

A Nova Scotia woman is recounting her near-miss encounter with a runaway Halifax Transit bus.

Holly Sher is left with a one-of-a-kind tale about her life flashing before her eyes.

“There is absolutely no way in hell I’d be standing here right now if it weren’t for that tree,” she says.

She was taking her daily route after work on Friday evening, walking in front of Purdy’s Wharf in Halifax.

“I was looking at my phone, trying to find a podcast, and I was distracted,” she admits. “Then, I looked up and there was a bus like six feet away from me, barreling towards me.”

The Halifax Transit bus was out of service, and had been parked on Reconciliation Way in the Cogswell District.

That meant nobody, including the driver, was on board – but it started rolling down the hill.

“When (the driver) reached in the window to turn off the engine, the bus began rolling down Upper Water Street and came to a stop once it hit a tree,” says Halifax Regional Police Const. Martin Cromwell. “The tree then broke and hit Purdy’s Wharf Tower number one.”

The tree shattered a few windows, but miraculously, the unmanned bus didn’t hit any people or vehicles when it crossed through the busy intersection at about 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

“It came to a stop on that tree, which didn’t seem possible,” Sher says. “Made a very loud noise.”

According to police, the driver suffered minor injuries from trying to catch the bus.

“I guess he chased it across (Upper) Water Street,” Sher says.

“I just walked up to him, and we were both shaking like leaves, and I just said, ‘Are you okay?’

“He was really in shock, kind of had glass shards all over him, so I helped him kind of pick a few off his hat,” Sher says.

While it was a close call for her, she only had a split second to process what was happening, but thought to herself, ‘What a stupid way to die, honestly, and I should probably get out of the way.”

CTV News asked Halifax Transit on Monday if there was a mechanical failure and about damage to the bus.

The transit service declined an interview, saying its investigation is ongoing.

The property management company at Purdy’s Wharf wasn’t available for an interview on Monday.

But given the timing of the crash, the whole ordeal could’ve been much worse.

“Everyone’s very lucky that there was no further incident or any other injuries involved in the collision,” says Cromwell.

Thankful to be alive, Sher’s only left with a scare and a lesson share.

“I just want to say that it’s important to not walk around staring at your phone,” she says. “It looks dumb, and it is dumb, so I’m going to be more careful.”

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