Driver Abandons Busload of Former Prisoners in Front of Store

[austin552]

CORSICANA, Texas — A driver who apparently took her work rules very seriously abandoned a bus full of former prisoners along a highway because her hours for the day were over, police said.

The 40 passengers had been paroled or released from the state prison in Huntsville. Some wore ankle bracelet monitors.

They were aboard a charter bus that was headed Thursday to a terminal in Dallas but wound up 60 miles short.

"In 31 years in law enforcement I've never seen anything like this," Corsicana Police Sgt. Lamoin Lawhon said.

Police said the bus was chartered from Greyhound Bus Lines Inc. The driver pulled over in front of a convenience store around 4 p.m. and told the passengers her allotted driving time was up and another driver was on the way.

A clerk in the convenience store called police. Officers arrived to find the former prisoners milling around the bus. Dispatchers exchanged several phone calls with Greyhound and prison officials while Lawhon and two other officers stayed with the bus and the passengers.

Just before 7 p.m., a second bus arrived with three drivers -- including the one who had abandoned her passengers in the first place, Lawhon said.

Greyhound spokesman Dustin Clark said company officials were investigating the incident. "It is a very serious matter," he said.

Clark said drivers have to follow strict guidelines on consecutive working hours and rest periods.

Police said there were no incidents involving the passengers while they were stranded.

"Their behavior was exemplary," Officer Travis Wallace said.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Must be Union.

[URY914]

She'll vote for Hillary.

[stomachmonkey]

Agree bad move.

But let's stop and think for a second.

Was there a gaurd on the bus?

If yes then what is the issue?

If no then the "passengers" must have been deemed "safe" by the DOC?

So what's the issue?

There are laws governing how many hours a driver can spend behind the wheel.

They are designed to keep us safe from someone falling asleep at the wheel of a 20 ton missle.

Let's say she continued past her time and had an accident that was determined to be caused by fatigue.

Imagine the outrage over that one in addition to the multiple lawsuits that would have ensued.

[chapo]

I am a volunteer high school football coach. We have been stranded a few times because of the driver being "at work " too long. They drive the kids in the morning for an hour, sit around for six hours, drive for an hour, sit around for two or three more hours, drive us for an hour, oops too much time. Why not send a "fresh" driver? Union and district rules. OK. We raise money to charter nice air ride buses ( Prevost style) so we don't have to go through this, or ride on a bus built before I was born, and are told we are not allowed to use them because of the districts contract with the drivers union. So now we are back to riding unsafe busses with drivers who may not be able to take us home because they were at work for 12 hours. Not working, but at work. I love unions and the government and the open minded problem solvers they are.

[David]

I'm not a DOT driver, but I've worked with some. It's my understanding that it doesn't take much to loose their license. If their log book shows over 10 hours in a day they can be in deep doodoo. She may have had to wait too long picking up the prisoners which caused the problem. If I have really critical load, I make sure there are two drivers in the truck.

[LakeCleElum]

Other than poor planning, scheduling, and supervision on the part of the bus company, what's the big problem? Prisoners are released all the time and wander among us. Don't fall for the media hype.....

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by chapo

I am a volunteer high school football coach. We have been stranded a few times because of the driver being "at work " too long. They drive the kids in the morning for an hour, sit around for six hours, drive for an hour, sit around for two or three more hours, drive us for an hour, oops too much time. Why not send a "fresh" driver? Union and district rules. OK. We raise money to charter nice air ride buses ( Prevost style) so we don't have to go through this, or ride on a bus built before I was born, and are told we are not allowed to use them because of the districts contract with the drivers union. So now we are back to riding unsafe busses with drivers who may not be able to take us home because they were at work for 12 hours. Not working, but at work. I love unions and the government and the open minded problem solvers they are.

California has a unique group of laws regarding the transportation of elementary and high school students for extra curricular activities. It is called the SPAB program (Student Pupil Activity Bus). The hours of service (what a driver can work/drive) are different from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

The Fed rules allow a driver hauling passengers to drive for 10 hours. Additionally, the driver may work 15 hours (including the 10 hours driving). That would let the driver inspect the vehicle, arrange for a repair, complete post-trip paperwork etc. Both the 10 and 15 hour clocks may be "stopped" by going "off-duty" such as lunch, home for the day on a split shift etc. Eight hours off resets the clock to zero and the driver can again drive 10, work 15.

Now SPAB rules differ radically here. For SPAB drivers, the clock does not stop unless 8 consecutive hours off happens. So if a driver goes to work in the morning at 6am, starts driving at 7am, finishes driving at nine am, then goes off duty until say 2pm, according to SPAB rules, at 2pm, the driver has worked 8 hours. The same driver under Federal rules would only have worked 4 hours by 2pm... Way way different.

This is why the SPAB driver runs out of hours so quickly. Now the union thing in your state is a whole different story. I think you're getting the run-around. People all over the state of California are using commercial motorcoaches (like the prevost) to for extra curricular activities. They will be bound by the same laws (SPAB while in California) but the advantage is that the driver probably did not spend all morning hauling kids on a bus route! So the driver would have hours available to move your team. To say nothing of the comfort of a late model motorcoach versus a school bus.

If you would like to contact me direct, feel free to. I work in CA pretty regularly and have a more than passing familiarity with both the Federal rules and rules regarding the transportation of students for extra-curricular activities.

angela