Bus driver fired over roadkilled snowman

Wonder if Wally's seen anything like this at work?

Illinois bus driver gets fired for running over snowman

So, the gist of the story is: Bus driver deliberately runs over a snowman in the opposite lane. Somebody - probably the people who built the snowman - videotapes it and posts it on Youtube. Driver gets fired. Now there's a group on Facebook trying to get him reinstated.

When I first saw a summary, I thought the bus company was a bit off base to fire him. Then I saw the video. Changed my mind a bit - he certainly seems to be tossing that bus around pretty hard on an icy road, doesn't he?

It still seems off base. Was it a bad decision? Oh yeah. Intentionally swerving into the other lane to hit something, never a good idea when you drive a bus. However he didn't hurt anyone, and it's obvious those idiots put the snowman there for the purpose of causing problems!

if the roads are warm enough to be "slushy" like those were, i'd think the weight of the bus would make it not any worse than a wet road. its not like the driver cut across 3 lanes including a turn lane to destroy the snowman, it looked like no more than a two-way residential or side street, and the snowman was pretty well in the middle of it to begin with.

Watched that video yesterday and my first thoughts were of Wally

The bus driver was way out of line (pun intended) by sweeping into oncoming traffic lanes. He should have called-in a radio report to have someone else clear the blockage. It appears the snowman was placed in an area with a pretty clear sight-line, but it was still a pretty damn stupid prank.

I'd rather the driver faced disciplinary action and the jokesters hunted down and prosecuted.

I live in this town. had he not crossed the centerline into the oncoming lane it probably would have been ok.

oldsaw wrote: Watched that video yesterday and my first thoughts were of Wally The bus driver was way out of line (pun intended) by sweeping into oncoming traffic lanes. He should have called-in a radio report to have someone else clear the blockage. It appears the snowman was placed in an area with a pretty clear sight-line, but it was still a pretty damn stupid prank. I'd rather the driver faced disciplinary action and the jokesters hunted down and prosecuted.

D-bags who put snowman in the middle of the road should take the bigger hit.

In reply to Cone_Junky:

Hey, we actually agree on something!

To me it looks like the driver said "hmm, some moron put a snowman in the street to try to scare someone into spinning their car so they could videotape an accident, im going to smash it with the bus so no one gets hurt"

What if some one was hiding in the snowman?

hot linked

In reply to mrhappy:

darwin award?

oldsaw wrote: In reply to Cone_Junky: Hey, we actually agree on something!

Shhhh, somebody might see that.

Strizzo wrote: In reply to mrhappy: darwin award?

^FTMFW!

Someone built a snowman in a lane in the road? And got pissed when a vehicle hit it? Am I missing something?

Good bus driver. He deserves a cookie.

I saw that video and I can't figure out why he got fired.

What he said! ^

The way the OP put it, you might have thought this guy drifted sideways and crushed the snowman, or at the very least, swerved.

He appears to gradually cross the lines to destroy something that would be a danger to other drivers.

I hope somebody whips those kids' asses. If my folks caught me doing that, my punishment would probably be to shovel the street!

some asshat on youtube wrote: Boo hoo bus driver. He/she ran over a bulk of snow that could have contained ice which would have damaged the bus and the passengers on it. Also, as previous comments stated, there could have been animals inside or behind the snowman. This act was malicious and absolutely unnecessary. Get rid of your bleeding hearts; this driver deserved to be fired. He/she had no right to be going out of protocol.

Gah.

Bus Drivers are professionals(wally back me up here). The guy should have called his supervisor or the cops and had the morons who put something in the road cited.

To be fair, when you board a bus you entrust your safety to the driver and the company couldn't have a liability, like that driver, hanging around. The act could easily be construed as unsafe.

There are a few things at work here. First in the article it says he resigned. That means there was no way that his union could save his job, so they allowed him to save a chance at future employment elsewhere. If you actually get fired from a gov't job even Walmart won't take you.

I would guess the company went for dismissal over suspension for one of two reasons. First would be his previous discipline and driving record. If he's got a few accidents on his record and is filmed deliberately hitting something that is bad, especially if there are any pending lawsuits. The other possibility is that with money being tight they may be facing layoffs. No one wants to lose a good worker, so if they try to shed some of the screw ups first.

Transit agencies are very concerned about how they are seen and how there workers are viewed. They are under constant watch of various state and federal agencies and an increasingly angry public. Their drivers are speeding menaces to society to people on the street and the slowest people on earth according to the customers. The last thing a company needs is a video of one of their drivers acting like an idiot.

The correct thing to do would be to call his supervisor, who would have come down and filled out a six page report while waiting for a snowplow to come and knock it down. After all those guys can hit anything.

damn, doesn't anyone have a sense of humor any more? the kids pit the snowman in the road so someone could run it over.

a bus driver ran it over.

good clean harmless fun for all involved..

disclaimer- half of my 35 mile drive home from work this morning was on a barely plowed highway that still had about 3" of snow on it from the over night snowfall.. i was going 55 mph in my Camaro and trying to get slideways around the curves..

Racer1ab wrote: What he said! ^ The way the OP put it, you might have thought this guy drifted sideways and crushed the snowman, or at the very least, swerved. He appears to gradually cross the lines to destroy something that would be a danger to other drivers. I hope somebody whips those kids' asses. If my folks caught me doing that, my punishment would probably be to shovel the street!

He wasn't drifting the bus, but I wouldn't have wanted a very heavy passenger in the seat next to me when he swerved like that. It doesn't look all that gradual of a lane change to me.

novaderrik wrote: damn, doesn't anyone have a sense of humor any more? the kids pit the snowman in the road so someone could run it over. a bus driver ran it over. good clean harmless fun for all involved..

I'm with you.

I guess life is so good in America, these are the types of petty things people see fit to get upset about.

Yah, the snowman had to go, and the snowman builders should be disciplined.

The bus driver is in a difficult position in that even the appearance of "unsafeness" is unacceptable.

As is so often the case today, a big stink over nothing.

The complaint department killed humor years ago. He would have been better off had he drifted across it sideways. While it seems to spook the passengers at first, recovering from a good slide makes you look like you saved them from certain death. The only problem is he would have killed the side panels, which would have caused more headaches.