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It’s the latest, trendy “gotcha!” Catching your Metro bus or train operator behaving badly.
In this post-Ft. Totten world, it’s not surprising that citizens are scrutinizing their drivers more. Last week, a Metro train operator was caught texting while driving. Then yesterday, a Maryland bus driver was accused of reading a book while operating her vehicle. (In this day and age, it’s still nice to hear that someone actually picked up a book.)
There’s a kind ‘off with his head!!!’ response to these incidents. Take for example, the reaction to the cell phone incident, which produced this response from At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown:
Kwame: Metro Operator Should be Fired
Driver caught texting while operating a metro car
“I am shocked that an operator would be callous enough to risk the safety of passengers by texting on a cell phone,” said Councilmember Brown. “Metro didn’t go far enough in the disciplinary action against the individual. The operator should be fired and anyone caught in the future should face the same consequences.”
Or, the last book story, which leads with this line: “The purge of local public transportation machine operators shall take no prisoners!”
Yesterday, Metro launched a zero tolerance policy against all distractions, like phones and pdas, and passengers are being urged to capture any kind of evidence.
Image by Divine Miss M., Flickr Creative Commons