Evening star., 1946-09-06
Letters to The Star
Three Bus Drivers Reply
to a Critic
70 the Editor Of The Star

To the Editor of The Star:
On August %, letter appeared in
The Star advocating the stricter regu-
lations of bus drivers Particular men
ton was made of Sixteenth street
The undersigned are bus operators
who have worked on the Sixteenth street
line and are part of a group of bus
operators who for three consecutive
years have won the American Transit
Association Safety Award, which is
given to the organization posting the
best safety record in cities of 600. 900
population or more. We took note of
this letter and felt the author was not
familiar with the many situations that
confront bus operator every day and
every trip, nor was he familiar with our
safety record.
The apparent ease with which the
operator drives his bus through heavy
traffic as though they were sport
coupes" is not an indication of lack of
concern, but rather an indication that
he has been thoroughly schooled and Is
a skillful operator The author COM
plains that buses do not remain in the
right lane. We wish 1t were possible to
always remain In the right lane: it
would make our work much easier. We
do not cut in and out just to be cut
ting in and out as this is no simple
matter In operating large bus. We do
so because autos are parked along the
curb sometimes legally, sometimes
Illegally. We do SO because taxis are
constantly stopping for passengers, par
ticularly in the morning rush hour,
southbound. We do so because there
are many trees on Sixteenth street
which do not afford ample clearance
for a large bus And again, Sixteenth
street Is street with q high crown,
over which operation is extremely haz-
ardous when 1t becomes slippery or
wet. An operator exercising due eau
tion could not afford to be too close to
the curb under these conditions. Our
critic complains that bus operators do
not give hand signals. We do not wish
to paint the operators as angels of the
highway, but we feel that If the author
of the letter were bus driver and had
placed his hand out on innumerable oc-
caSions and had to draw it back to
avoid having 1t mangled by some close
passing motorist, he would use hand
signals sparingly. But then we do have
the outside rear-view mirror to deter
mine If 1t is safe to pull from the curb
Reference is made also to the accident
on Memorial Bridge. We do not know
what special information the author
has OF what happened on the bridge.
Presumably his information came from
the same source as ours namely, the
local newspapers. But the solution to
the prevention of accidents is not to
be found In the theory propounded by
the author, namely that If the bus had
been in the right lane. the accident
would not have happened, because if
the bus had not been there, if the ditch
had not been there, if the lamppost
had not been there, if the auto had not
been there, no accidents would happen.
We bus operators are hourly employees.
Whether our bus is northbound, south
bound, eastbound, westbound or stand
ing, our pay goes on. But the passengers
on our bus have gotten on that bus
because they want, and are entitled to,
rapid and safe transportation to some
other point. While it may inconvenience
one or two people in a passenger car
to have a bus in their way, certainly
consideration should be given to the
desires of upward of IS people who
are passengers on the bus, and who
also want to reach their destinations.
In order to continue operating buses
we must maintain a good safety record.
In order to keep our operators permits,
which are prerequisite to driving a
bus, we must obey the law just as other
motorists must. We feel that any cam
paign to single out bus drivers for
trafhc violations in view OF the facts
outlined herein would be unjust.
J. G. BIGMOW,
w. B. BIERWAGEN,
r. E. HANNA.