The incident occurred on Tuesday, February 20, in Kraśnik Górny (Bolesławiec municipality). As the bus driver was passing the home of the reader, he fatally struck her dog, Dżebet, and drove away from the scene. The woman said:
We found the driver and the bus ourselves in Krzyżowa. After a brief conversation with the driver, there was no remorse on his part. He told us to notify the police.
When the police arrived, we were issued a PLN 220 fine for failing to keep the dog under control (the dog, sitting on its own property, ran into the street as the bus passed because that is a dog’s nature).
After informing the police that we believed [kierowca autobusu] had been driving faster than the posted limit (40 km/h in a built-up area), the officers [...] did not try to clarify the matter. It would have been enough for the police to check the tachograph in the bus.
The officers informed Dżebet’s owners that they had to bring a civil case. A resident of Kraśnik said:
We accept responsibility for failing to keep the dog under control. We will pay the fine; it is our fault, and we understand that. We are terribly sorry—it breaks our hearts—but we also want the driver to be held accountable because he fled the scene of the accident without providing assistance, despite seeing the entire situation.
The upset woman adds that they did not hear even the word “sorry” from the driver, which, in the reader’s opinion, should be a priority in such situations.
Asp. szt. Anna Kublik-Rościszewska, spokesperson for the Bolesławiec police, confirmed to us that such an incident had taken place. She also confirmed that, according to the officers’ findings, the dog ran under the wheels of a Setra bus.
Why were the dog’s owners fined? “Dogs running loose can contribute to road incidents in which people may be injured. When trying to avoid a dog, a driver may leave the road and hit a tree. The driver may also collide with another vehicle or drive onto the pavement. And it is the owners who are responsible for their dogs,” the spokesperson explains.
We will return to this topic.