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rfmcdonaldCopied from this blogTO post by Robyn Urback and hosted here for purposes of my blogging, this photo shows two of the three TTC workers known to be texting while driving since passengers took pictures. The TTC didn't like the idea.
The odds of this happening, given the general lack of faith in the complaints system, is trivial, especially since it turns out that this strategy seems to be producing results.
The consensus, at the Star and blogTO, seems to be strong approval.
The Toronto Transit Commission wants you to quit playing paparazzi with its employees.
The please-don’t-play-gotcha request comes after at least three TTC drivers were caught on camera this week by shocked passengers who observed them texting or chatting on cellphones while operating buses.
“We ask that people not do that,” TTC spokesman Brad Ross said Friday. “We don’t require photographic evidence to discipline drivers. Cameras in the face of operators can escalate a situation that doesn’t need to be escalated.”
Instead of snapping photos, “we ask that they call us, report the bus and route number and date and time of the occurrence,” Ross said.
The TTC has disciplined employees for texting while driving before without pictures. Cellphone records, for example, can be used in internal investigations.
York University student Robert Sauer, who took video of a bus driver apparently chatting on his cellphone while driving earlier this week, worries that without it there wouldn’t be enough to go on to punish drivers responsible for “endangering the safety of the public.”
“Then it really just seems like it’s our word against their word,” said Sauer, who used his iPhone as he rode on the 196 University Rocket from York to Downsview station. “Obviously if there’s an issue with so many people taking videos and pictures of their drivers texting, there’s a huge problem.”
The odds of this happening, given the general lack of faith in the complaints system, is trivial, especially since it turns out that this strategy seems to be producing results.
Three TTC drivers accused of texting while steering busloads of passengers across the city have been fired.
A source close to the investigation confirmed the news Star on Monday night.
The drivers were caught on camera last week steering with cellphones in hand. The photos were taken by shocked passengers who quickly whipped out their smart phones when they saw what the bus drivers were up to.
The TTC launched an investigation after the photos surfaced late last week.
On Monday, officials weren’t commenting on the status of the case.
“We have a disciplinary process that we need to follow,” TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said. “We would never jeopardize the discipline process.”
“What I can tell you is that we take the matter extremely seriously and our actions will be commensurate with the seriousness with which we take this matter.”
The consensus, at the Star and blogTO, seems to be strong approval.
