Driving a bus is no game of “Mario Kart,” Metrobus operators will say. In addition to making sure riders pay the fare, bus drivers grapple with avoiding cars, buses, bicyclists and pedestrians. Now a video of one unnamed Metrobus driver on the 52 Line headed from Takoma to L’Enfant rail stations highlights the challenge of what happens when a 4-year-old child runs into traffic. The 12-second video, provided by the transit agency, was shot just after 4 p.m. on April 20 by one of the new cameras installed in all Metrobuses to help train drivers.
It shows the road stretched out ahead of the moving bus, with a monitor showing it cruising about 27 mph down the right lane. Then a small blur can be seen entering the roadway from behind a row of parked cars on the right.
It is hard to tell from the video, but the blur is actually a 4-year-old. The child apparently was trying to run from one parent to the other across the busy four-lane street, according to Metro’s Assistant General Manager of Bus Services Jack Requa.
</p><p/> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>The child is so small that it can be seen for only a brief glimpse.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Three-quarters of a second later, the bus then swerves slightly to the left, still driving at about 26 mph. There’s not much room to maneuver as cars are parked on one side and another bus and a car are traveling in the opposite lanes. </span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>The jolt doesn’t look like much on camera but it was enough to trigger the camera to record and send some of the bus passengers flying.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>It was also enough for the bus to miss the child, according to Metro.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Such cameras constantly film the drivers yet preserve the recordings only when the vehicle makes an unusual move. Since the cameras were turned on in November, the agency said, they have been triggered more than 9,000 times. The transit agency estimates that about 80 percent involved the driver doing nothing wrong. </span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>But the cameras have led to more than 1,100 disciplinary actions and 20 terminations for such violations as running red lights, talking on cell phones while driving or speeding. </span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>In this case, the driver was praised for doing things right.</span></p> <p><span style=”font-style:italic;” class=”EndEmailTag”><i><a href=” mailto:[email protected] “>[email protected]</a></i></span></p>
