'Slapped wrists' for talking and driving (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

'Slapped wrists' for talking and driving

12:00am Wednesday 26th September 2001

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Bus drivers caught talking on mobile phones while driving are receiving nothing more than a 'ticking off'.

Bosses at Metro Bus say drivers have to be reported THREE times before they will be fired.

Metro Bus quality manager Michael Watson said: “We are talking about human beings and we have to consider their personal circumstances.”

But road safety chiefs and passengers are appalled by this attitude and have branded bus bosses as “stupid” for allowing dangerous behaviour.

John Jones, 53, of Main Road, Keston, said: “I have seen bus drivers on their mobile phones in Bromley High Street, Bromley South and up Stock Hill. They can't be concentrating while they're on the phone and I am amazed drivers are allowed three warnings before they are sacked.”

Stagecoach (south east London) operations assistant Philip Wilson saiddrivers can be “given advice, a caution or dismissal” depending on circumstnaces. Arriva allows its drivers to speak on the hands-free bus radio.

Bromley Council's head of road safety John Walton said: “It's a very stupid idea if bus drivers are using mobile phones and hands-free equipment, especially because of the numbers of people those vehicles carry.”

Tthe Highway Code says mobile phones and hands-free devices should never be used while driving but this is not enforced by government legislation.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions said: “Under current laws, police have sufficient powers to prosecute such people for driving without due care and attention, reckless driving and dangerous driving.”

l Have you seen a bus driver using a mobile phone? Or been in an accident as result of a driver on a mobile? Call 01689 885727 or email us at:

akwintner@london.newsquest.co.uk

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