"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
02/20/2015 at 15:12 • Filed to: Safety
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"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
02/20/2015 at 15:12 • Filed to: Safety | 3
| 12 |
Gawker !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by the Transport Workers Union, which represents New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority bus drivers. The memo comes after police arrested an MTA driver for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! a 15 year old girl in a crosswalk with the walk sign illuminated. Failure to yield to pedestrians with the right of way is a misdemeanor punishable up to 30 days in jail or a $250 fine if the pedestrians are injured or killed.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
The memo the Transport Workers Union released to it's members, quoted below in full:
The incidents this past Friday and several weeks ago in which two Bus Operators were arrested for "failure to yield" and "failure to exercise due care" are both heartbreaking tragedies. But they were accidents, not the result of "criminal" reckless driving. Yet, our Operators were treated as if they were criminals by the Highway Police, and they face TA discipline as a result of the arrest. To add insult to blatant injustice, there are some misguided people out there applauding the criminal treatment of our Bus Operators.
Now we must respond appropriately, recognizing that we are being disgracefully and unfairly scapegoated and targeted. It is imperative that we immediately move to defend our livelihoods and protect ourselves against these attacks. Therefore, we MUST Yield/Stop "when a pedestrian or bicyclist has the right of way." If there is a pedestrian in the crosswalk, Yield/Stop your bus until they are on the sidewalk. We must exercise extreme caution at intersections and on roadways.
Do not move your bus until all is clear. It you do not make your schedule, so be it. If traffic backs up as you await the ability to make an unquestionably "safe" left turn, so be it. If the bosses are displeased, so be it. Do not jeopardize your future for the sake of NYC Transit's on time bus performance. And if you are pressured or threatened by supervision for taking these necessary steps, notify your union representative immediately.
Members of the City Council have now moved to amend "Vision Zero" to clarify its original intent toward Bus Operators. But until the law is amended, and until the DOT installs the necessary left turn signals at dangerous intersections, this is our new reality. The rules of the road have changed, and we must respond accordingly. Protect yourself. Protect your livelihood.
We all know that Bus Operators prevent thousands of accidents every day, not cause them, as we navigate through the busiest and most dangerous streets in America. We are the safest Bus Operators in the world. But the new rule under Vision Zero is "perfection." So let's be perfect. If the conditions are not perfectly safe, do not move your bus!
If read without context, the memo seems fine, as it was designed to seem. You shouldn't prosecute accidents, as that keeps people from reporting accidents and incidents. It also reiterates the basics of any driver's education course, such as yielding for pedestrians with the right of way and watching out for other cars.
But the TWU plainly states the reasoning for remembering these basics of traffic safety: to "defend our livelihoods" from possible criticism and criminal prosecution. If the TWU also cares for the safety of its membership and the people they serve, that must be in a different memo.
This is bad. This is bang-your-head against the wall bad. If avoiding a $250 fine is your best justification for not driving over a pedestrian lawfully walking across a street, you shouldn't be driving anything, let alone public transportation. If avoiding getting into trouble is the best justification, than changing the law would remove all their concerns. People would still be run over and killed, but at least the drivers would keep their livelihood!
So please, TWU, stop it.
sm70- why not Duesenberg?
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 15:21 |
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Yeah. I saw that on the front page and read that as, "Our bus drivers are being mercilessly fined the cost of a medium speeding ticket or even spending a month in the cheapest rent in New York City because they broke the law, failed to yield to someone crossing legally in a crosswalk, and ran them over almost (or actually) killing them."
Personally, I think they're lucky not to be charged with something much worse. I'm not a law expert, but I'd think if they actually killed somebody, manslaughter would not be out of the question. I don't really know though.
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 15:21 |
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Kinja'd!
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For Sweden
> sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 15:23 |
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It's one thing if the MTA is pressuring them to take risks to meet schedules, but the justification still shouldn't be "but the cops are mean!"
jariten1781
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 15:23 |
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Looks like their PR guy should work harder at protecting his own livelihood.
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For Sweden
> jariten1781
02/20/2015 at 15:25 |
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That's not a PR guy moment. That is a boss saying "I'm mad and everyone should know give me a keyboard!"
Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 15:25 |
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Only $250 if I "accidentally" run over someone in NYC... Well, well, well.
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jariten1781
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 15:26 |
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Yeah, but PR guy should know when shit like this is likely to go flying and put his foot in the aisle.
crowmolly
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 15:39 |
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Seems par for the course from where I sit- as far as "canned letters from a defensive organization" go.
It's not our fault, we are being unfairly targeted, etc etc.
The writer may not even believe his own words but it's his job to protect those who pay him.
TopSirloin
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 15:57 |
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That's really a shame. The fact that their punishment is small just absolutely shocks me. The only "blatant injustice" here is that these drivers and operators are not held to a higher standard than the rest of the public! Run over a pedestrian in a crosswalk as a regular citizen driving his or her car, and theres a much longer, much more severe list of punishments that could end up landing that person in prison for years. These people are professional vehicle operators, and they're held to a looser standard than us amateurs? That's really disgusting.
f86sabre
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 16:01 |
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I don't get how they can equate the death of a person and being scapegoated. That alone set off all kinds of alarm bells. You don't want a punitive environment, as you mentioned, as that leads to cover ups, but if a law is violated in the course of doing your job then the individual is on the hook for that. The law probably doesn't have exceptions for bus drivers, garbage truck drivers or other city workers.
Hey, y'all, watch this!
> For Sweden
02/20/2015 at 16:28 |
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That writing is straight out of Composition for TV Villains 101.
Tally-ho
> For Sweden
02/23/2015 at 09:21 |
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"Our drivers are running over people while they are on crosswalks with the walk sign illuminated, and for some reason the cops are treating them like criminals! Its not fair that they are targeting our drivers who have run people over! Don't they know our drivers' job literally depends on following traffic signals all day long?!?! How dare they target us for ignoring those signals and running people over!"