Just drive, don’t talk
As federal officials examine the cause of the train collision that occurred in Los Angeles last Friday, it looks as if they’re pointing to human error as the engineer may have been texting instead of being attentive and stopping at a signal.
I have to wonder what TriMet is doing to ensure the safety of its passengers in the Portland area. On my morning commute into the office, I saw signs of things that could definitely be improved. In boarding the first bus of my commute, there was a woman standing up front blocking the entry when there were available seats throughout the bus.
Why was she standing there the entire time? She was chatting with the driver. I’ve been on more than enough buses to see that lead to the driver missing requested stops from other passengers or slamming on the brakes too hard because they were dangerously close to running a red light. Perhaps she was another TriMet employee, but she wasn’t uniformed, nor did I see a visible badge.
On the other part of my commute, the driver was chatting on his cell phone without an earpiece. Now, he may have had legitimate business to discuss during that call, but both of his hands should be on the wheel. And, of course, if it wasn’t legitimate business being discussed, the call shouldn’t even have happened. It’s called voicemail.
While there are rules that passengers are responsible to know, who’s checking the drivers? I don’t want it to take a fatal accident.
I think if you look at the facts TRIMET BUS DRIVERS, and transit bus drivers in general, are far more attentive and skilled at driving then any other segment of the driving population.
@al m - Which facts would those be? While I’m sure if you put all transit drivers up against everyone else who drives, there may be some safety assumptions made. However, that doesn’t escape the fact that transit drivers, on average, are also carrying more people in their vehicles. It also doesn’t escape the fact that when an accident occurs where a transit driver is involved, it gets more attention. See the incident with the commuter engineer in LA or the multiple deaths that occurred in the Washington, DC area on the bus routes and on the Metro system.
That said, please do post any transit safety statistics. Taking a quick glance on TriMet’s site, I don’t see any current information.
I don’t have statistics at my fingertips, sorry, but I think that if one would research all the fatal accidents that happen in this country and compare how many were transit related due to operator error, it would become quite clear that most of the carnage created on American roadways is indeed caused by non professional drivers.
Human error will always occur when humans are involved, obviously no bus/train operator should be talking on a cell phone when their vehicle is in motion, I give you that.