DETROIT – A DDOT bus driver who is accused of running over and killing a woman in Downtown Detroit was involved in several other crashes, including another fatal crash.
Geraldine Johnson, 59, of Detroit, was behind the wheel of a Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) bus when Janice Bauer, 67, was killed at 7:30 a.m. on June 2 at the intersection of Congress and Griswold streets. Police said Bauer was using a walker in the crosswalk when the DDOT bus turned left onto Griswold Street and struck her. Bauer was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson has been charged with one count of moving violation causing death in this crash. According to a judge, Johnson was involved in a deadly crash in 2015, a crash in 2018, two crashes in 2019, one crash in 2020, one crash in 2021, and another crash in 2022.
Why was Johnson allowed to drive a bus?
“The city of Detroit, unfortunately, isn’t going to be truthful with you on this. They will not answer this question because the only truthful answer that they can give you will fully incriminate the systemic failure that led to the death of Ms. Bauer,” Fieger Law attorney James Harrington said.
In 2015, Johnson was driving a DDOT bus when she struck and killed Joey Davis. Video footage from the incident shows Davis getting off the bus and getting his bicycle from the front of the bus before Johnson hit him. After that crash, Johnson was retrained and allowed to return to work as a bus driver.
“Since this terrible accident occurred two weeks ago, we have been engaged in a full review of Ms. Johnson’s record and of all related departmental policies and procedures. Once that review is completed, we will be better positioned to respond to questions about her driving and employment history with DDOT. Following the accident, Ms. Johnson was terminated,” DDOT’s executive director of transit Mikel Oglesby said in a statement.