A Greyhound bus driver piloting a bus from Detroit to Toronto this morning is being hailed as a hero after subduing a passenger who grabbed the wheel of the bus as it travelled at top speed along one of the most dangerous stretches of Highway 401.
The driver simultaneously managed to control the assailant and steer the bus to a safe halt on the highway shoulder, Constable Janet Hayes of the OPP's Essex detachment said.
"It could have been more serious, but due to the bravery of the bus driver it wasn't," she said.
"This could definitely have been an 11-person fatal. We're putting (the driver) in for a citation for life-saving and bravery."
No charges have been laid.
It's believed the incident occurred because the passenger, a 46-year-old diabetic from Mississauga, Ont., had failed to take his insulin before boarding the bus and became distressed.
The man was one of two people who boarded the bus at Detroit. After passing through the tunnel, it picked up eight more passengers in Windsor, Ont., then headed for London, its next stop.
About 8:26 a.m., near the township of Tecumseh, the driver glanced in his rear view mirror and noticed the man running up the aisle yelling, Constable Hayes said.
With the bus moving at 100 kilometres an hour along a notoriously dangerous curved section of the highway, the man grabbed both the driver and the wheel of the bus.
Somehow the driver managed to restrain the man, pull the bus over and call police.
With another passenger keeping an eye on the attacker, the driver still had the presence of mind to place safety cones in front of and behind the bus.
Police arrived and took statements and the man was taken back to Windsor for a medical and psychiatric assessment.
Constable Hayes would not comment on why the man might have acted as he did, but a source familiar with the drama said the man had not only failed to take his insulin but had also taken a large dose of cough syrup to ease a congestive condition.
The bus and the remaining passengers aboard then continued its trip toward London and Toronto.
"The driver just said he wanted to continue his journey," Constable Hayes said.
