Bus driver sacked for using iPad while driving at 100km/h on M50

Comhrá

A harsh punishment but it's hard to defend the driver's behaviour:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/bus-driver-sacked-for-using-ipad-while-driving-at-100kmh-on-m50-31478170.html

smurfjed

A harsh punishment

Why do you consider it harsh? I would have expected him to at least get penalty points.

TheChizler

Political correctness gone mad.

Liam McPoyle

tippman1 wrote: »

A harsh punishment but it's hard to defend the driver's behaviour:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/bus-driver-sacked-for-using-ipad-while-driving-at-100kmh-on-m50-31478170.html

Whats harsh exactly??

He took both hands off the wheel of a 15 to 20 tonne machine while travelling at 100km an hour, to prick about with his bloody ipad.

What if he had come upon the scene of an accident, or a broken down car??

Getting sacked was the absolute least he should have expected, and he had the gall to take out an unfair dismissal claim???

Talk about a brass bloody neck.

:mad:

Damien360

Surprised it got to court. If they installed cctv in all the fleet at the same time then he has no complaint but if it was only placed in his bus then surely there are legal issues around privacy (no matter how ludicrous they seem).

Do you have to inform staff/unions of placement of surveillance. It is in all pubs over the till and plainly obvious to all staff.

dodderangler

Bus drivers seem t be in the news a lot lately about using phones while driving

gctest50

need these yokes so you can run the bus off the ipad and the ipad off the bus

Damien360

dodderangler wrote: »

Bus drivers seem t be in the news a lot lately about using phones while driving

Look around you on the road. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is texting/emailing/using satnav on their phone. Not just buses.

NickDunne

If this type of approach (cctv proof) was taken with all professional drivers, at least 60% of them would be off the road. As a driver myself, it's unbelievable the amount of lads that drive around with the Nokias! welded to their ear.

dodderangler

Damien360 wrote: »

Look around you on the road. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is texting/emailing/using satnav on their phone. Not just buses.

That is very true. Boils my piss seeing it aswell. Never answered a phone or texted while driving. I'm the type of person who if I did do it my luck would have a Garda pull right up beside me so I don't bother.
Van drivers and business men are the worst for it

Comhrá

smurfjed wrote: »

Why do you consider it harsh? I would have expected him to at least get penalty points.

Getting the sack is harsh - that's not defending him for a second and I'm not saying the punishment is disproportional, but it's still harsh.

As for penalty points, he'd need to have been spotted in the act by the Gardai, would he not?

doolox

I come across this all the time on the M50, people using phones, eating food, drinking cups of tea/coffee or reading stuff while driving on one of the fastest and most dangerous roads in the country.

Ideally people on motorways should be devoting 100% of their concentration on driving. Too much can happen too quickly to be doing anything else.

I hope the law regarding mobile phones is written to apply to a wide range of activities and devices so as to guard against distracting activities as outlined above.

It would be nonsensical if a person reading a book or newspaper was allowed off the hook and a person using a phone was caught.

Damien360

doolox wrote: »

I come across this all the time on the M50, people using phones, eating food, drinking cups of tea/coffee or reading stuff while driving on one of the fastest and most dangerous roads in the country.

Ideally people on motorways should be devoting 100% of their concentration on driving. Too much can happen too quickly to be doing anything else.

I hope the law regarding mobile phones is written to apply to a wide range of activities and devices so as to guard against distracting activities as outlined above.

It would be nonsensical if a person reading a book or newspaper was allowed off the hook and a person using a phone was caught.

I think driving without due care and attention covers that.

Jeju

A sign someone is reading their phone or texting in heavy traffic is the 7 to 8 car gap they leave between them and the car in front.

markpb

Jeju wrote: »

A sign someone is reading their phone or texting in heavy traffic is the 7 to 8 car gap they leave between them and the car in front.

Or that weather conditions are poor and they want decent breaking distance. Could also be that there's an on-ramp coming up and they're leaving space for cars to merge in rather than barge in. If they're any way perceptive or familiar with the road, they could know there's a traffic jam coming up and are keeping a gap to allow them to drive smoothly rather than racing up the back and jamming on the brakes, causing a ripple effect.

FWIW total stopping distance at 120kph is approximately 27 car lengths in dry conditions.

Jesus.

Feel sorry for the Driver but its the way things have gone. Next they'll haul you in for picking your nose

doolox

...I love a good pick on the Long Mile Road at a red light myself. Three lanes of an audience to "enjoy" my antics.........

Comhrá

doolox wrote: »

...I love a good pick on the Long Mile Road at a red light myself. Three lanes of an audience to "enjoy" my antics.........

But do you swallow?

Guy:Incognito

Jesus. wrote: »

Feel sorry for the Driver but its the way things have gone.

Yeah, its so annoying that people dont want to be killed by some **** playing with an ipad. Whats their problem like.

Cookie_Monster

Dublin Bus have had CCTV on board for years and years but we've not heard about all the drivers they've sacked for having books, newspapers, mobile phones or portable radios (all of which I've personally seen at least once). And that's just DB, never mind all the other commercial truck or bus companies you see daily where drivers are reading / have phones / having a smoke.

While it's good to see it being dealt with in this case it does seem a little bit random and not par for the course.

quadrifoglio verde

Sorry but if I owned a bus company and had proof that drivers were using ****ing ipads while driving a bus, the driver would be getting the sack as well.
Then he had the brass neck to claim because it wasnt a mobile phone he thought it was fine. This man is a professional driver, who is responsible not only for his life when he is driving but 50 odd people as well.
not only does he deserve to be sacked, the only way he should be allowed back on the road is on 2 wheels and a set of pedals

ba_barabus

Candy crush saga is serious business

dodderangler

Jesus. wrote: »

Feel sorry for the Driver but its the way things have gone. Next they'll haul you in for picking your nose

Quick pick is a mile away from someone texting on their phone while driving a heavy vehicle. Massive difference.
In saying that though I tapped the back of a Peugeot years ago because of a poxy sneeze.
iPad can wait. Sneeze can't

Jesus.

dodderangler wrote: »

Quick pick is a mile away from someone texting on their phone while driving a heavy vehicle. Massive difference.

Was he texting though?

dodderangler

Texting or watching pot hub it doesn't matter he isn't fully concentrated on the road while driving a heavy vehicle and a bad move could leave people injured or dead.

markpb

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Dublin Bus have had CCTV on board for years and years but we've not heard about all the drivers they've sacked for having books, newspapers, mobile phones or portable radios (all of which I've personally seen at least once). And that's just DB, never mind all the other commercial truck or bus companies you see daily where drivers are reading / have phones / having a smoke.

While it's good to see it being dealt with in this case it does seem a little bit random and not par for the course.

AFAIK the arrangement that's db have with their drivers is that CCTV footage will only be used if there's an incident or if a complaint made by the public about the driver. It's possible that Aircoach have a similar arrangement in place. In this case, a member of the public saw the Aircoch driver doing this and made a complaint.

Boskowski

Cant believe people saying this' harsh. There has to be much much tighter rules on professional drivers especially if they're ferrying other people or dangerous goods. Common sense really.

How retarded would you want to be using an iPad while driving a bus, seriously? And how could anyone possibly defend that, seriously? All you need to do is think about it for a moment.

I remember a story from years ago after a bad accident with an articulated lorry on some German autobahn. When they cut the dead driver out of his mangled cabin they found him with his pants down and a porn mag was found nearby.

BeatBoxing Blowfish

TheChizler wrote: »

Political correctness gone mad.

Are you insane?

He's paid to drive, not to watch films or whatever he was doing on his ipad!

jimgoose

Getting the boot from driving a coach the size of a bungalow should be the least punishment he could expect. Seriously, I don't know what kind of a fool... :pac:

colm_mcm

The fact that he couldn't see anything wrong with it in the July 29th meeting was probably the nail in his coffin.

jimgoose

colm_mcm wrote: »

The fact that he couldn't see anything wrong with it in the July 29th meeting was probably the nail in his coffin.

Yes, it would have dawned on people at this point that they appeared to be dealing with some sort of idiot. A little contrition might have gone a long way.

dodderangler

Says in the paper the driver just thought mobile phones were banned.

Greenmachine

Chances are he will receive compensation if recent court cases are anything to go by e.g a certain supermarket worker fired for selling alcohol to a minor etc.

BeatBoxing Blowfish

Greenmachine wrote: »

Chances are he will receive compensation if recent court cases are anything to go by e.g a certain supermarket worker fired for selling alcohol to a minor etc.

Compensation?
Now I'm no legal eagle, but hasn't his case been dismissed by the EAT?

Jesus.

dodderangler wrote: »

Texting or watching pot hub it doesn't matter he isn't fully concentrated on the road while driving a heavy vehicle and a bad move could leave people injured or dead.

That's a bit over the top. Sure you could say that about someone adjusting their radio.

But like I said, that's the way it is now and there's eyes everywhere. The poor bugger has lost his job over it but I think a warning would have sufficed. Unless this wasn't the first time he did it.

Chimichangas

Jesus. wrote: »

That's a bit over the top. Sure you could say that about someone adjusting their radio.

But like I said, that's the way it is now and there's eyes everywhere. The poor bugger has lost his job over it but I think a warning would have sufficed. Unless this wasn't the first time he did it.

He had both hands off the steering wheel, twice I think, while adjusting the ipad?? His partial excuse was the radio wasnt working on the bus so he was using ipad for radio.?

And he couldnt see what he did wrong??

When I read that I couldnt believe he didnt know what he did wrong, but there are plenty out there who dont see it either.

Chimichangas

Jeju wrote: »

A sign someone is reading their phone or texting in heavy traffic is the 7 to 8 car gap they leave between them and the car in front.

Have to wonder is this the same school of thought that says when driving you should be where possible:
(1)driving at the speed limit as a minimum, and/or
(2) as far up the ass of the car in front of you at all times (until you get a chance to overtake that mofo and find another queue)

MarkAnthony

Chimichangas wrote: »

Have to wonder is this the same school of thought that says when driving you should be where possible:
(1)driving at the speed limit as a minimum, and/or
(2) as far up the ass of the car in front of you at all times (until you get a chance to overtake that mofo and find another queue)

markpb wrote: »

Or that weather conditions are poor and they want decent breaking distance. Could also be that there's an on-ramp coming up and they're leaving space for cars to merge in rather than barge in. If they're any way perceptive or familiar with the road, they could know there's a traffic jam coming up and are keeping a gap to allow them to drive smoothly rather than racing up the back and jamming on the brakes, causing a ripple effect.

FWIW total stopping distance at 120kph is approximately 27 car lengths in dry conditions.

Jeju wrote: »

A sign someone is reading their phone or texting in heavy traffic is the 7 to 8 car gap they leave between them and the car in front.

I'm pretty sure Jeju means when sitting in traffic and the car infront fails to move up in a timely fashion. It's usually down to the driver being distracted.

If you're texting while driving your airbags should be replaced with metal spikes. I simply fail to understand how anyone with the IQ of more than 40 can think it's okay, ever, to text while driving. Get a hands free and tell your friend what you had for lunch verbally over the phone.

Chimichangas

MarkAnthony wrote: »

I'm pretty sure Jeju means when sitting in traffic and the car infront fails to move up in a timely fashion. It's usually down to the driver being distracted.

No, I doubt thats what Jeju meant, but in your example I would also confidently put it down to the driver being distracted alright... :rolleyes: