# Greyhound Driver Caught Texting While Driving



## rickycourtney (Jun 9, 2014)

> PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Greyhound bus driver has been put on leave after a passenger near the front of the bus filmed him texting while driving.
> 
> A woman riding from Pittsburgh to Columbus, Ohio says she shot the video while the driver appears to be on a highway. The woman says the bus was full of passengers and at some points the driver had the phone out on his lap.
> 
> The video shows him texting as his arms are resting on the steering wheel, then putting the phone back in his pocket.


Full story (including video of the incident)


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 9, 2014)

Is this against the Law, Federal or State like it is for Engineers????


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## railiner (Jun 10, 2014)

Very disturbing to see this. Yes, it is illegal to text, or use a handheld electronic device while driving. It is also against company regulations.

I viewed the video, and noticed that the driver is wearing what appears to be the "black and white" uniform of a new, probationary driver....I kind of doubt that he will ever turn another wheel for Greyhound.....


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## rickycourtney (Jun 10, 2014)

What's interesting is that Greyhound reportedly said that they didn't want to contact this driver while he was still on the road... for fear that it would distract him further. He'd probably be thinking about how he was about to get canned instead of focusing (somewhat) on the road.


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## railiner (Jun 10, 2014)

rickycourtney said:


> What's interesting is that Greyhound reportedly said that they didn't want to contact this driver while he was still on the road... for fear that it would distract him further. He'd probably be thinking about how he was about to get canned instead of focusing (somewhat) on the road.


Or it could possibly have lead to a confrontation between the driver and the passenger.....better to let him get to his relief point than risk something like that occuring....


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## Swadian Hardcore (Jun 10, 2014)

Oooh, this guy's busted! I'm sure glad there's no such drivers around here. With DriveCam, Greyhound should be able to quickly deal with this. I agree, they didn't call the driver to avoid a fight on the bus and Greyhound buses don't have long-distance radio. That's why when a Greyhound breaks down, nobody down the line will know what happened, and they'll have to keep waiting hours for that bus until the relief bus comes.


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## jebr (Jun 11, 2014)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> Oooh, this guy's busted! I'm sure glad there's no such drivers around here. With DriveCam, Greyhound should be able to quickly deal with this. I agree, they didn't call the driver to avoid a fight on the bus and Greyhound buses don't have long-distance radio. That's why when a Greyhound breaks down, nobody down the line will know what happened, and they'll have to keep waiting hours for that bus until the relief bus comes.


Wouldn't each driver have a cell phone that they can use in cases of emergency or to notify drivers down the line what happened?


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## railiner (Jun 11, 2014)

The driver's do have cell phones for that purpose.....but most also carry their own, which is supposed to be turned off, or at least put away....


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## rickycourtney (Jun 11, 2014)

So does that mean Greyhound has no way of communicating with drivers who are out on the road during an emergency and conversely do drivers not have a way to converse with Greyhound during an emergency (outside of a personal cell phones)?

I know that the contractor who operated the Amtrak California thruway buses had Nextel 2way phones (the ones that chirp) installed on their buses. The phones always stayed in a cradle and the drivers used a wired, hand held mic to talk (like a truckers radio.)

That allowed drivers to safely communicate with dispatchers on the road... with distances impossible with radio.

That being said... I was under the impression that Greyhound will be issuing drivers smartphones as they make the switch to eTicketing. Those devices could make it easier for drivers to communicate with the home office.


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## railiner (Jun 11, 2014)

Our driver's used to have Nextel's, with the push-to-talk feature, but Sprint faded Nextel away....

Our driver's now have Verizon phones that are equipped with hands-free, auto-answer earphones that are in compliance with the laws. After the dispatcher calls a driver, the auto-answer feature answers the call within two rings, and hangs up after the dispatcher ends the call. Not a single button has to be pressed, but the driver must drive with the earphone on all the time.

If the driver needs to call the dispatcher, he must pull off the highway, and park first. In the future, there will be a means to initiate the call with the press of one button. Of course in an emergency, it is legal to call 911 while driving...

Besides the cellphone, the bus is equipped with a GPS tracking device that has a provision for emergency alerting of the dispatcher....


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## Ind Ben (Jul 22, 2014)

In the 70's while driving for Trailways,if we broke down we hoofed it to the nearest pay phone,or asked a passing motorist to call for us.


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## railiner (Jul 22, 2014)

Ind Ben said:


> In the 70's while driving for Trailways,if we broke down we hoofed it to the nearest pay phone,or asked a passing motorist to call for us.


Welcome to the forum!

Where were you based at?


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## Ind Ben (Jul 22, 2014)

Asheville,N.C.


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## railiner (Jul 22, 2014)

SMS, CSC, or QCC?


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## Ind Ben (Jul 22, 2014)

QCC


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## railiner (Jul 22, 2014)

I've been in the business, off and on since 1968....rather than go into detail here, I'll send you a PM...


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## metrolinecoach111 (Jul 23, 2014)

rickycourtney said:


> So does that mean Greyhound has no way of communicating with drivers who are out on the road during an emergency and conversely do drivers not have a way to converse with Greyhound during an emergency (outside of a personal cell phones)?
> 
> I know that the contractor who operated the Amtrak California thruway buses had Nextel 2way phones (the ones that chirp) installed on their buses. The phones always stayed in a cradle and the drivers used a wired, hand held mic to talk (like a truckers radio.)
> 
> ...


Basically....yes to your operations questions. When Dallas rolled out CADEC (security system), the thought was to also use it as a two-way messaging and GPS system for the drivers to communicate with Central Dispatch (good ol' OSC) in Dallas. They do have the functionality, but it's not quite there yet.

Bolt uses a system similar to what Railiner described with ADT/NYT.


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