A pedestrian takes in the damage of a tour bus side-swiping a building at Second Ave and Main St in Haines (Corinne Smith/KHNS)
A Whitehorse-based tour bus driver accidentally sideswiped the corner roof of a Haines’ clothing and gift shop on Main Street Sunday morning. There were no injuries, and the owner says it has happened before on the tricky corner.
The accident happened just after 10am Sunday morning when a bus driver with the Whitehorse-based Standard Bus Contracting company was driving an empty tour bus from the Captain’s Choice motel down Second Avenue.
Two windows were broken on the bus that hit the corner, no passengers were on board (Corinne Smith/KHNS)
The driver turned right on to Main Street, side-swiping the first floor corner of the overhang, which tore off. The accident also shattered two windows on the right side of the bus.
Haines Borough Police responded to the traffic accident. There were no passengers or injuries, and all parties were cooperative, according to officer Max Juci.
Mike Ward is the owner of the building, which houses the clothing and gift shop store Caroline’s Closet. He said he was in the office when he got the call, and was initially upset, but glad no one was hurt.
“Luckily nobody was walking by,” he said. “And the bus didn’t have any passengers on board because they broke some of their windows on the inside and on the street and somebody sitting there that could have been injured. And nobody’s walking by so no injury. So it’s all good. This is all replaceable.”
He estimates the cost of damage to be between $5,000 to $6,000 dollars, and was told the company’s insurance would cover it.
Ward says he plans to modify the design of the building so the corner doesn’t stick out so far because this kind of thing has happened before.
“We had an angle iron deal with two flag holders on it that we put flags in at times, and we had painted orange,” Ward said. “It was designed to tear off if somebody hit it and it stuck out a little further. And two weeks ago a boat hit it, and we haven’t had a chance to put it back on. So yeah, it’s 2022 – if something will go wrong, can go wrong, it will, every day. Something goes wrong, it seems like, and this is today’s version.”
The bus driver helped Ward sweep up broken glass on the corner, apologizing for the accident, but declined to give KHNS his name.
There is no designated tour bus route in Haines. But a better route would be for buses and big rigs to avoid Main Street, continue on Second Avenue and turn right on the Haines Highway instead, according to Ward.
Left to right: Mike Ward, the owner of the building, the bus driver, who declined to be named, and an unidentified woman sweep up broken glass Sunday morning (Corinne Smith/KHNS)
