Buses World News

In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry

23.10.10

Fighting on Buses * USA - Video Shows Guest Choking Disney Bus Driver

Disney Confirms Incident Happened Oct. 12

(A YouTube video shows a physical confrontation between a Disney bus driver and a passenger)

Orlando,FL,USA -ClickOrlando -October 15, 2010: -- A Disney bus driver is on paid leave following a physical confrontation with an angry guest that was captured on video... The video begins in the middle of the confrontation, showing a father with a baby pushing and choking the bus driver... People in the crowd can be heard on the video yelling for help. Later, security arrives, but by then the confrontation is in full swing. The poster explained that the man was furious because the driver refused to let his family on the packed bus... The father also is heard saying to the security guard, "He sees me. I was waiting here first and he tried to block me. He let everyone pass through" ... The video doesn't show what started the fight, but someone in the crowd explained what happened before the camera started rolling... "He, like, threw a baby at him," someone said... "We have a baby. We're supposed to be priority," the guest can be heard saying on the video... Some people who have viewed the video couldn't believe what they were seeing... No one was hurt in the altercation...

Labels: dangerous bus drivers, dangerous passengers

20.7.10

Fierce competition * USA - Surrounds jitney buses

Frequent violations may put riders in danger, officials say

Hudson County,NJ,USA -The Hudson Reporter, by Tricia Tirella -Jul 18, 2010: -- Commuters in North Bergen and surrounding towns sometimes prefer to save time and money by skipping NJ Transit’s buses and taking the smaller, independent jitney vans that run to New York City and Journal Square... But in the last few years, several county inspections have forced the jitneys to pay fines for safety violations including bad brakes and an exit door being welded shut... Three weeks ago, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office held a surprise inspection of local jitneys. Twenty-three out of 33 jitneys were found to be unsafe and taken out of service... For Hudson County bus riders, the decision to use NJ Transit or their smaller jitney bus competitors rests on factors like safety, comfort, reliability, and cost... NJ Transit buses are not as frequent as the jitneys... The jitneys follow each other in close pursuit, and many of them are the first to get to bus stops, with NJ Transit buses close behind. Drivers honk their horns to alert waiting passengers and pull over abruptly... (Photo - UNFAIRLY TARGETED: Samuel Martinez of Union City has been driving his bus for 11 years. He said jitney bus drivers are unfairly targeted...)

* NJ Transit riders log 25,000 complaints against drivers the past 2 years

Wayne,NJ,USA -The North Jersey, BY KAREN ROUSE -July 19, 2010: -- One bus driver talked on his cellphone the entire 40-minute ride from Wayne to New York. Another got lost on the way to Giants Stadium, while a third slammed the bus doors on a little girl's head... Still another smoked aboard her bus, then sprayed excessive amounts of air freshener to mask the odor. And yet another shouted "start walking" to an amputee when a wheelchair lift failed to work... NJ Transit logged more than 25,000 complaints about bus drivers in 2008 and 2009, records show, the majority describing encounters with drivers who berated passengers, bypassed them at bus stops or drove recklessly — striking garbage cans, cars and, according to one complaint, a woman's dog... The agency has 3,773 bus operators, most of whom don't get complaints, said Jim Gigantino, vice president and general manager of bus operations at NJ Transit... (Photo by DAVID BERGELAND: Donald Rouse hailing an NJ Transit bus at Vreeland Avenue and Hudson Street in Hackensack. Rouse says NJ Transit apologized after he reported a driver failed to stop for him)

Labels: dangerous bus drivers, drivers' competition

19.7.10

DANGEROUS BUS DRIVERS * USA - Drug, alcohol tests to increase for

Bus driver's arrest history prompts NCTD call to revamp background checks

North County,San Diego,CAL,USA -The North County Times, by CHRIS NICHOLS -July 14, 2010: -- Public bus drivers across North County will be subject to more random drug and alcohol tests in response to last month's arrest of a driver suspected of ferrying passengers while extremely drunk, a transit spokesman said this week... David Joseph Costello, 41, recently was hired to drive North County Transit District buses by private contractor First Transit. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.25 percent at the time of his arrest on June 1, after being stopped in Encinitas after passengers called police... Prosecutors charged him Tuesday with five misdemeanors, three tied to the June arrest and two for public intoxication arrests in early April, one month after he started driving NCTD buses... Several bus riders stopped at the Vista Transit Center on Tuesday said they're glad more frequent drug and alcohol screenings will be conducted for drivers... He said he didn't think it was necessary, either... Some of those riders said that they were still concerned that the transit agency isn't changing its practices in regard to background checks...

Labels: dangerous bus drivers

18.4.09

Neglecting Safety *Malaysia - Among, Causes Of Bus Accidents

Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia -Bernama -April 13, 2009: -- A lackadaisical attitude among bus operators concerning safety is one of the causes of bus accidents, said Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat... He said there were also some old buses which did not have their body frames strengthened in the interest of safety... Ong said this in commenting on the express bus tragedy at Km443 of the North-South Expressway near Rawang which claimed the lives of six people and left three people injured at dawn... He also admitted that ineffective enforcement was also a contributor to bus accidents happening...

Labels: dangerous bus drivers

5.2.09

DANGEROUS BUS DRIVERS * WORLDWIDE

* USA - Motorist Surprised by MARTA Bus on Georgia 400

Roswell,GA,USA - 11Alive -2 Feb 2009: -- If you've ever driven down Georgia 400 during rush hour you know it can be a nightmare. But Chris Cecil saw a MARTA bus driving down shoulder on Georgia 400 between Northridge Road and Abernathy Road, passing cars that are stuck in traffic on the right, then exiting at the North Springs rail station... "It is a legal bus lane, but there are certain rules that apply to those buses," said Mark McKinnon of the Georgia Department of Transporation... The buses can only drive on the shoulder when traffic is moving at less than 35 mph, and even then, they're not supposed to go faster than 35 mph... (Photo courtesy: Chris Cecil - Cecil's pictures show the MARTA bus driving down shoulder on Georgia 400 between Northridge Road and Abernathy Road, passing cars that are stuck in traffic on the right, then exiting at the North Springs rail station)

* UK - Roof sliced off double-decker bus in Cradley Heath

Birmingham,UK -The Birmingham Mail -Feb 2 2009: -- Passengers were forced to dive for cover when a double decker bus ploughed into a bridge which sliced off the roof... Ambulance staff were ‘astonished’ that the 21 passengers were not more seriously injured after the Travel West Midlands bus collided into the 13ft bridge in Corngreaves Road, Cradley Heath... Nine people were taken to hospital following the incident which happened at just before noon on Saturday...

Labels: dangerous bus drivers

BUS' DRIVERS * Singapore - 'Lost and dangerous'

Singapore -AsiaOne, The Straits Times, by Tony Ng -Jan 31, 2009: -- Bus accidents (and incidents) seem to have been on the rise recently... (Photo 1 -top- An SMRT bus carrying 20 passengers crashed into a lorry, overturning it at a junction in Clementi. Four were injured)... In a recent letter to The Straits Times forum, a reader highlighted yet another bus accident. According to the reader, the bus driver took a wrong turn and along the way, collided with a car. But not before running over a kerb...

(Photo 2: Accident scene at the junction of Upper Thomson Road and Sin Ming Avenue. Mr Lee was flung off his bike when he collided with an SMRT bus on Dec 14, 2008. He hit the windscreen of the bus on impact, causing it to shatter)... And on Jan 24, an SMRT bus collided with a trailer in front of it. The impact was so great that several rows of seats were ripped from their bolts. The bus driver and 15 passengers were sent to the hospital... (Photo 3: An accident involving an SMRT bus and a private bus resulted in 15 people hospitalised)... In another incident, a visually-impaired man missed his bus stop because the bus driver did not know how to speak English...

(Photo 4: The windscreen of this SMRT bus was cracked after a collision near Clementi MRT station on Dec 3, 2008. Seven bus passengers were injured and five of them were later taken to hospital. The accident involved two public buses and two cars)... As public transport ridership increases, these 'lost and dangerous' bus drivers, if not properly trained, will be a menace to their passengers and drivers on the roads... Even as we dedicate road lanes to the exclusive use of buses, it has to translate into a corresponding increase in the standard of service for public commuters... If we have to stop and consider our safety before boarding a public bus, then I'm afraid there is something wrong with our public transport system...

Labels: dangerous bus drivers