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Bus Driver Caught Reading Kindle Behind the Wheel

by Terrence O'Brien on September 22, 2010 at 04:00 PM

Bus Driver Reading While Driving
Texting while driving is bad enough, especially when you're trusted with the lives of dozens of passengers as an employee of a public transportation system. But 40-year-old Lahcen Qouchbane, a driver with Portland's TriMet system, decided that glancing down occasionally to send a message just wasn't dangerous enough. He opted to get some reading done while shuttling TriMet patrons towards downtown Portland. Qouchbane placed his Kindle on the dashboard of his bus, and can be seen in a video -- recorded by a passenger's cell phone -- glancing down and changing the page while slowly working his way through rush hour traffic. Several customers called to complain, and TriMet immediately pulled Qouchbane off his route. He's been reassigned to administrative duty, pending an investigation.

We understand sitting in near standstill traffic several hours a day can be boring and frustrating, but we suggest the next bus driver who wants to get some reading done on his route invest in some books on tape. They're still against the rules, but are likely to generate fewer complaints.

Tags: amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, driving, driving while distracted, DrivingWhileDistracted, kindle, top

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