A bus driver who was pitted against a cycling advocate in a court case about alleged road rage in North Vancouver has been acquitted of dangerous driving in North Vancouver provincial court.

Judge John Milne ruled Friday that TransLink bus driver Christopher Charles Heward, 49, wasn’t guilty of criminal dangerous driving during a near-miss with a cyclist on March 31, 2015.

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Heward was charged following an incident in which his bus passed cyclist Greg Robinson on the left as it headed down Third Street in North Vancouver towards Second Street, ending up in a turning lane for oncoming traffic and narrowly missing Robinson.

Milne ruled that despite an audiotape on which Heward voices contempt for the cyclist, there was insufficient evidence to conclude “that he was deliberately trying to intimidate or scare the cyclist.”

Milne said he accepted Heward’s explanation that he only passed Robinson on the left after the cyclist made a move to quickly pull in front of the bus and he was worried he wouldn’t be able to stop.

“He knew the left lane was open and took it to avoid the cyclist,” said Milne. “He agrees he broke the rules of the road but had no choice, he says.”

The court case pitted Heward, a professional driver with seven years’ experience, against Robinson, a cycling instructor, avid bike commuter and cycling advocate. Both testified during the trial about “tensions between cyclists and motorists,” Milne noted.

A key piece of evidence during the trial was an audiotape recorded inside the bus (see video below), which was not in service, on which Heward’s derogatory comments about Robinson can be heard.

“Isn’t it nice how they built you that bike path that you don’t f***ing use?” Heward can be heard saying on the tape.

Heward’s comments point to his frustration and “at times, contempt for cyclists when he believes they are not following the rules of the road,” said Milne.

On the stand, Heward gave his evidence in what was at times a “condescending and evasive manner,” the judge added.

Robinson, on the other hand, testified in a “self-opinionated” manner, said Milne.

He admitted he’d like the court case to “perpetuate political agendas,” Milne said, adding Robinson has frequently posted on social media about cycling issues, including assertions that “cyclists don’t always have to obey the rules of the road,” like stopping at stop signs.

Robinson had described the bus driver as a “terrorist” on social media, the judge said.

But regardless of what either man thought, “the question is whether the driving, viewed objectively, was dangerous to the public,” and a marked departure from what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances, said Milne.

He ruled it was not.

Defence lawyer Mark Slay, who described his client as an “out-loud thinker” to the judge, said outside the court that Heward agrees with Milne what happened that day was a “momentarily imprudent action.”

Heward, who was suspended by the bus company for three days following the incident and no longer works for TransLink contractor Coast Mountain Bus Company, said he’s hoping to work as a bus driver again.

This videotape, capturing the bus driver’s comments inside the bus, was entered as an exhibit in the North Vancouver trial. Warning: The audio contains profanity which some may find offensive. video supplied by BC Court Services