Detroit paying nearly $6M in second death connected to bus driver with many crashes

DETROIT — The city of Detroit has agreed to pay $5.85 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of a pedestrian who was struck by a city bus, the second fatality involving the same driver since 2015.

Wayne County Judge Kathleen McCarthy signed off on the deal last week, court records show.

Janice Bauer, 67, was hit by a city bus while walking in a downtown Detroit crosswalk in June 2023.

The driver, Geraldine Johnson, was sentenced to six months in jail a year ago after pleading no contest to a moving violation causing death, a misdemeanor.

Johnson was involved in 19 other accidents and was well-known to first responders as a risk behind the wheel, attorneys for Bauer's estate said in a court filing. A man was struck and killed in 2015 while trying to remove his bike from the front of her bus.

The union representing drivers suggested Johnson didn't want to resume driving after the first death but had no choice if she wanted to keep a city job.

Johnson has not spoken publicly about Bauer's death. Sharon Clark Woodside, her attorney in the criminal case, said “she simply didn't see her.”