THE Vancouver Police Department is investigating after a 61-year-old woman from North Vancouver was killed by a West Vancouver transit bus on the Stanley Park causeway Saturday evening.
The accident happened shortly before 7 p.m. after the woman - who was riding on the sidewalk heading into downtown - lost her balance and fell into traffic, where she was struck by the bus.
The woman had been cycling to work. Police have not released her name.
Although it is early in the investigation, "It looks as though the cyclist collided or grazed a pedestrian," said Const. Brian Montague, spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department. "We believe that caused her to lose her balance. The bus was unable to stop in time."
Montague said the cyclist went under the bus and was killed instantly.
The accident shut down traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge for several hours Saturday night.
Investigators will examine footage from video cameras mounted on the bus and other evidence, including witness statements from pedestrians on the causeway and bus passengers.
Montague said police are still hoping to talk with anyone from the bus who saw what happened.
Jeff McDonald, spokesman for the District of West Vancouver, which operates the Blue Bus system, said the bus driver is "very shaken by what happened" and remains off on leave since the accident.
"This is just so sad that it happened," he said.
The fatal accident marked a sombre start to Bike To Work Week in the Lower Mainland.
HUB, the organizers of Bike to Work Week, has said it will petition the province to install safety barriers between the causeway sidewalks and the road.
It's the second time in six months that a West Vancouver transit bus has been involved in a fatal accident.
Two Richmond men in their 20s were killed just before midnight Nov. 28 when their northbound Mazda 6 spun out of control on the Lions Gate Bridge and slammed into a West Vancouver bus heading southbound. Speed was identified as a possible factor in that crash.
