Guess that no texting memo hasn't been circulated yet. From a reader who would like to remain anonymous. They are planning to contact Metro about the event.
Today at about 3:30, I was on the 25A, and saw the driver texting while behind the wheel.Other items:
He first moved the sun visor up and over the camera located above the driver to block it and proceeded to take his phone out of his shirt pocket and text on the left side of the steering wheel. There is also another camera on the bus to monitor passengers, but I don't know if the driver is visible from that one.
The visor made a loud noise when he first started to move it, and he looked up in his large mirror that's above him to see if anyone noticed. I was wearing sunglasses, so he didn't know exactly where I was looking.
And through that large mirror where he can see everything on the bus, passengers can also see a lot.
Once he saw no one really "flinched," he continued.
We were moving (turning, also) while the phone was being read and buttons were pushed. This went on for at least 5 minutes, but I got off the bus.
The bus was rather empty, so I'm not sure if anyone else saw.
There was no apparent weaving or other behaviour associated with distracted driving.
I guess it could have been business related, but if Metro is using texting as a way to get a hold of bus drivers while they are working, that is certainly a technique that needs to be reevaluated. I also highly doubt that it was business related due to the way he went about it.
The most telling part of this was the visor moving and also when he put the phone away at certain stops when passengers were going to get on the bus, he would make a stretching motion and drop the phone in his shirt pocket.
It's amazing that I was able to see everything through the mirror, but it was really disgusting and disturbing to me so I had to say something.
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9 comments:
Unsuck! Come on. At least they're not breaking VA law!
That's my bus. Awesome.
The guy just wanted a few days off with pay. What better way?
yeah just like the hundreds of idiots that drive and text and talk in the district who almost hit bike riders....they're all the same.
rules are rules of course and metro driver shouldn't text while driving.
i had my driver of the 96 pull over for some 'safety issue' meaning some pole was loose but totally not dangerous, got off the bus, talked on her phone, had a smoke and then made a "call" to central on the bus phone and after 15 minutes, proceeded to union station.
without the control the drivers who CAN, will do whatever they want, riders be damned.
reminder though that there are some good drivers out there!
"reminder though that there are some good drivers out there!"
Probably not for long. The few competent ones make most of the union's members look bad. That can't be tolerated.
This is unrelated to the story but relevant to Metro sucking in general.
Has anyone else noticed that every single day since the fare increases there have been delays due to mechanical difficulties with trains? I'm certainly feeling confident that our increased fares are going to turn things around...
Going back to the DVD post for the other day, Anon's comment above brings to mind a movie we left off of the list: The Money Pit.
Back on topic, the saddest thing is that these incidents have ceased to become surprising. Though, I still can't fathom how Metro 'leadership' apparently has no conception of accountability.
"Has anyone else noticed that every single day since the fare increases there have been delays due to mechanical difficulties with trains? I'm certainly feeling confident that our increased fares are going to turn things around..."
That didnt start with the fare increase. That has been my experience with metro almost every time I have ridden their trains for the last decade. This fare increase is a smoke screen. A year from now they will be in the red again with plenty of excuses why. They cant manage the money they recieve. Their answer for this problem (instead of balancing their budget) is to rob our wallets for even more money. Here's an idea metro: why dont you fix the issues you already have and balance your budget before talking about expanding your system to Dulles/Tysons. Seems to make sense to me! You cant even manage your current system properly; and now you want us to foot the bill to expand it?!? Makes a lot of sense!
What would it take for Metro to balance their budget? Why are they not capable of this? Either someone is skimming (and someone knows they are) or they are totally incompetent (no surprise there). Either way, doesn't look good.
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