Bus Driver Runs Red Light - Gets Fired

[DashCamMan]

In Toronto, a city bus driver ran a red light nearly hitting a pedestrian.

The transit authority ended up firing the driver and she wrote a letter of apology pleading for her job. Apparently she was a single mother of 2 and was on her 6 month probationary period with the organization.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ses_recounts_her_run_through_a_red_light.html

The guy who shot the video feels bad for posting it and getting her fired.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/07/30/ttc_red_light_video_a_mistake_says_man_who_posted_it.html

I wonder if people will become more hesitant to post videos if they think the other person may lose his / her livelihood.

 

[flank]

I think that was the right call to fire her. I was not expecting that second bus to do that and pretty much jumped out of my chair in horror. I thought the first bus was the one that ran the light.

I wonder if people will become more hesitant to post videos if they think the other person may lose his / her livelihood.

I have a Costco 18 wheeler truck video that I never shared. His trailer is tipped over a little. It is listed in the middle of an intersection during the morning commute. No real reason to shame the driver or company.

 

[reverend]

It is actually quite scary when you think about it - if you're driving around in a works van /bus etc then someone out there is potentially videoing that bad decision you make (and to be honest we've all made a bad decision every now and then!)

This was definitely a really, really bad call though and to be honest regardless of her family situation, she's probably not suited to being a bus driver being in charge of others lives!

 

[sludgeguts]

Right call to post the vid and to sack the driver.
A bus driver has the same responsibilities as most other professional drivers PLUS a responsibility to their passengers.
All drivers must look ahead. traffic lights on green? Chances are they will change soon - you even get a warning - the amber light.
The fact that the car stopped long before the bus even got to the lights makes the situation worse.
This woman was daydreaming - something you cannot do when in charge of the lives of dozens of people & driving many tons of metal.

 

[proliance]

By my count that light was red for four seconds before the bus ran through it. Not to mention the driver had to swerve to avoid the pedestrian who most likely had the crosswalk light in her favor.

I hope the driver gets a new job that has nothing to do with driving.

 

[sludgeguts]

I wasn't even counting. Even if you haven't noticed the red lights, you would wonder why a car suddenly stops (in the lane next to you) ahead of you?
And yeah, I reckon that pedestrian must've crapped themselves.

 

[sludgeguts]

It is actually quite scary when you think about it - if you're driving around in a works van /bus etc then someone out there is potentially videoing that bad decision you make (and to be honest we've all made a bad decision every now and then!)

This was definitely a really, really bad call though and to be honest regardless of her family situation, she's probably not suited to being a bus driver being in charge of others lives!

Come the end of the day, I'm quite exhausted & need to catnap. People think driving is easy - anyone can point a vehicle and press the go faster pedal, but you really have to stay on your game all the while to avoid making those, potentially life or death, bad decisions and also to try to avoid the morons who seem to be out to get you! Not just the morons in vehicles either - the pedestrians who believe they have complete authority to step onto a crossing, right in front of a moving vehicle, or the ones that walk across a busy main road, yards form a pedestrian crossing! etc
The fact that i am driving a huge sign-written vehicle means I try to be the best I can be, to be an ambassador for the firm - which is why I get so riled up when other 'professional' drivers do such stupid things.
Mistakes I can forgive - we are all human, but when people deliberately do stupid things, it goes on Youtube.

 

[dpick1947]

I am retired now but I can remember when I was younger I had passed a PSV driving test and used to drive continental coaches (2 drivers full journey London to Spain none stop) I can remember getting to Spain and not being able to remember any of the journey. We use to say that we had driven the coach in auto mode That was scary.

Mind my wife says that I drive better that way no girls in short skirts to distract me

dpick1947

 

[kamkar]

I get that feeling too once in a while dpick, its a really unpleasent feeling for sure.

And i still get it now long after i have stopped beeing a pothead hazard on the roads ( though i never crashed a car in any state and i have only driven a couple 100 M while drunk before i parked my car )

Next time i have a "auto drive" insident i will review my footage to see what have been going on, i hope i still have my situational awareness and its just my memory that is failing me.

 

[Sunny]

She almost killed that girl.
Fire her ass. Put her on a desk job if feeling soft.

 

[Gibson99]

I get that feeling too once in a while dpick, its a really unpleasent feeling for sure.

And i still get it now long after i have stopped beeing a pothead hazard on the roads ( though i never crashed a car in any state and i have only driven a couple 100 M while drunk before i parked my car )

Next time i have a "auto drive" insident i will review my footage to see what have been going on, i hope i still have my situational awareness and its just my memory that is failing me.

as long as you don't wake up in your car in the driveway/garage, you're probably OK. i've never done that but had a boss who said he did. however, one time when i was about 18 or 19, i started to nod off as i was driving home after a long workday and had been awake for almost 36 hours straight... i clipped a curb and holy cow was i ever wide awake after that - thank you adrenaline! glad i only clipped the curb and not another car! and thankfully home was about a minute away at that point, and i made it home safely and passed out on the sofa.

on topic, i absolutely agree that posting the video and then the bus company firing the driver was the right thing to do. as a bus driver you're in charge of a lot of lives besides your own, and you cannot be lazy. i don't buy the sob story about her being a single mom with little kids. that's just her trying to pull a guilt trip to get out of her mistake. she almost killed a pedestrian and probably scared her passengers by swerving like that. even if she is single w/ small kids, she is not responsible enough to be behind the wheel of a bus. that's what the whole probation period is for anyway - to make sure you ARE responsible enough.

 

[Hoosiernorm]

Before I bought my dash cam I would take cell phone video and pictures of truck drivers who tailgated me while in my car. Had a driver try to push me down the road in Indiana and I made sure I got that guy's truck number and video of him 10 feet off of my bumper. If you're going to do it you better be prepared to explain it to your company. I had a Werner driver that came barreling through a construction zone and attempt to squeeze in between me and a slower Schneider tanker that was moving slowly in the right hand lane. The Werner driver was driving aggressively and almost caused an accident. They have fatalities every month on that stretch of road and you just can't seem to get truck drivers to realize that poor decisions lead to bad results. There is this weird aspect of trucking culture that makes aggressive driving the norm. I see drivers take risks that are absolutely unnecessary and gain them so little time that they are basically useless. If you are going to do something stupid or dangerous you better understand that there are people there watching you.