Bus Company Dan Fined for Repeatedly Skipping Passenger Stops

A regular commuter, Meir Cohen, has won a partial victory against the public transportation company Dan after a small claims court ordered the company to pay him NIS 3,000 in compensation. Cohen had sued Dan after experiencing at least seven documented instances over three months where buses on line 82, serving Petah Tikva, failed to stop for him at the Jabotinsky/HaYetzira station.

Cohen meticulously documented the incidents, even boarding other buses to record the license plates of those that bypassed his stop. He also filed seven complaints with the National Public Transport Authority, which confirmed that some of his complaints were investigated and forwarded for administrative enforcement proceedings based on Dan's performance data.

Dan argued that Cohen failed to prove he was at the station and accused him of bad faith for contacting the authority instead of the company directly. The court rejected these claims, finding objective support for Cohen's account in the authority's own findings and stating there was no impropriety in contacting the regulatory body.

The court also dismissed Dan's defense that Cohen should have taken a taxi to mitigate damages, ruling that passengers are not obligated to incur taxi fares every time a bus fails to stop. The judge emphasized the legal obligation of bus operators to run services regularly and for drivers to stop when passengers are waiting.

While the court accepted Cohen's claims regarding the violations, it found his requested compensation of NIS 30,000 excessive, stating it should not function as a penalty and that Cohen provided no evidence of financial loss. However, the judge acknowledged the significant inconvenience, lost time, and disruption caused by the repeated failures, leading to the NIS 3,000 award for emotional distress, hassle, and wasted time, plus reimbursement of court fees.