Arlington school bus driver caught texting while driving
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ARLINGTON, Wash. -- An Arlington school bus driver has been disciplined for texting behind the wheel.
Andrew Cunningham discovered the texting driver as he rode the school bus to a friend's house for a Halloween party.
"My friend tapped my shoulder and said 'Andrew, look the bus driver is texting,' " he said. "So I looked and she was texting, pulling out phone and trying to drive with her elbows."
Andrew's friend snapped a photo on his phone.
"It's hard to see because the bus is moving but as you can see she's texting," Andrew said.
Andrew's mom took her concerns and the photograph to the Arlington School District, contending the driver played Russian Roulette with children's lives by deliberately making the choice to text while driving.
"I was absolutely appalled and horrified," Kim Cunningham said.
The district's drivers aren't allowed to use phones while driving unless it's a 911 emergency -- a policy they're reminded of yearly. Administrators placed the driver of Bus 29 on leave immediately while they conducted an investigation.
"As a result of investigation, we acted swiftly with the maximum allowable action for her," said Andrea Conley with the Arlington School District.
What that is, the district won't divulge but the driver with two decades in good standing was back on her bus this week, much to Kim Cunningham's dismay.
"An accident didn't happen but does a few days' suspension justify her being back on the job?" she wondered. "Absolutely not."
The district wants to make sure parents know student safety is tops on their agenda and that this is the first time they remember a bus driver being punished for texting on the job.
Andrew Cunningham discovered the texting driver as he rode the school bus to a friend's house for a Halloween party.
"My friend tapped my shoulder and said 'Andrew, look the bus driver is texting,' " he said. "So I looked and she was texting, pulling out phone and trying to drive with her elbows."
Andrew's friend snapped a photo on his phone.
"It's hard to see because the bus is moving but as you can see she's texting," Andrew said.
Andrew's mom took her concerns and the photograph to the Arlington School District, contending the driver played Russian Roulette with children's lives by deliberately making the choice to text while driving.
"I was absolutely appalled and horrified," Kim Cunningham said.
The district's drivers aren't allowed to use phones while driving unless it's a 911 emergency -- a policy they're reminded of yearly. Administrators placed the driver of Bus 29 on leave immediately while they conducted an investigation.
"As a result of investigation, we acted swiftly with the maximum allowable action for her," said Andrea Conley with the Arlington School District.
What that is, the district won't divulge but the driver with two decades in good standing was back on her bus this week, much to Kim Cunningham's dismay.
"An accident didn't happen but does a few days' suspension justify her being back on the job?" she wondered. "Absolutely not."
The district wants to make sure parents know student safety is tops on their agenda and that this is the first time they remember a bus driver being punished for texting on the job.
Read what they have to say about her at:
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www.ratemybusdriver.comÂ
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What about a drug test too!
Are these bus drivers union? If no then she should have been fired. Can't understand how the district can say "we acted swiftly with the maximum allowable action for her" bull! She should loose her job
I commute daily from Maple Valley to downtown Seattle on a motorcycle and have seen it all. I can most always identify someone talking on their cell phone just by the way they are driving. Riding a motorcycle in rush hour traffic requires 100% of my attention, 100% of the time. Driving a car should be no different!  I wonder how many of you chastising this woman use your cell phone while driving?
Unfortunately, using a cell phone while driving has become acceptable by the population. Even as a primary law, it is not enforced at all. I watch people for four hours every day playing with their 'toys' while 'in control' of a rather deadly weapon. A responsible driver is watching their mirrors and blind spots, along with the traffic ahead of them and in front of them, and has no time for these distractions. A cell-phone wielding zombie is looking at two places, down and straight ahead at the car immediately in front of them. This is not the level of situational-awareness which brings any safety to our roads.
She should be fired -- no ifs, ands, or buts. Texting while driving is not only illegal, but dangerous. The kind of person who has the mentality of thinking that its "ok", is not the kind of person that should be entrusted to drive kids.
@The WA Mama
Yep, I agree. As others have pointed out, this was obviously not the first time she had been texting while driving the school bus, but it was the first time she was caught. She should have been charged with reckless driving, then fired.
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What amazes me is the blistering ignorance or insensitivity of people whining "Oh but she is a professional with years of service" or my personal favorite, "Nice to know that no one here has ever made a mistake" - Puhleeze. To those morons I say this: First, a "professional" would never, ever, risk the lives of other people so that they can type on a tiny telephone keypad. The woman was not and is not a professional by any definition of the word. Second, the "mistake" was not a mistake: it was a choice made by an adult who knew the consequences and deliberately broke the law. In addition, mistakes that the average person makes ususally do not involve endangering a good number of children and adult drivers. If she'd crossed the center line while texting she could have caused a head-on collision. The stupid, selfish biotch could have killed a husband or wife or a family - and gotten a slap on the wrist.
She should be terminated, bottom line. If she was such a skilled driver with many years of experience, then why do something so stupid? But it doesn't matter. She broke a law while driving children. Texting while driving is against the law. All those defending her on here, would your reaction be the same if she wasn't so lucky and got in an accident while texting, a child got hurt, etc.? No, she didn't get in an accident here, but we all whine and cry when someone does get hurt while texting and driving, and how bad they should be punished. Same goes here. How stupid of this lady. How irresponsible of the district to only discipline her. Do I text and drive, no, I don't, because it is a stupid way to get yourself or someone else hurt. Distracted drivers are such a problem these days, we shouldn't have to worry about distracted school bus drivers.
My son rode this bus with this driver daily for his entire grade school and middle school career. She is a very skilled and professional driver. She cares greatly for all the children on the bus, but simply made a bad choice. The comments here are very insane. She is a human being who made a mistake. Good to know that so many of the people commenting have never made any mistakes in their entire lives.
 @countrygirl50 A mistake that could have killed innocent children. Her "bad choice" could have had irreversible an tragic consequences. Would you feel the same had your child died that day?  It happens. Don't be so ignorant to think it won't.  And she knew better.  She cares greatly for the children on the bus??? Apparently not enough to wait until she was done driving to text. She didn't care too much. She was willing to put selfish actions above the safety of the children she cares for.
 @countrygirl50 Regardless, this was not an accident by any means. It's not like she 'accidentally' pulled out her phone, she made a conscious decision to break a well-known primary law. Drivers do this every day and need to be held accountable for their irresponsibility, especially in a case where they are driving students in a vehicle without safety belts. She is paid to drive professionally, she had better be aware of the rules and regulations of the area she is driving in, and if not, she should not be driving in the first place.
 @countrygirl50 No, none of us have ever made a mistake that's both obviously illegal AND endangers the lives of dozens of children. We're not talking about someone accidentally painting over an electrical outlet and don't even try to tell me 'that was the only time she ever did it!' Â
@countrygirl50 A mistake is a mistake -- this is not a "mistake". But this driver blatently broke the law and put other lives in danger. If she did it this time, the chances are she has done it before. I would not want someone with the decision making abilities of this yahoo driving my kids around.
"Disciplined".... Should be terminated.
This lady is obviously not very intelligent or safe. It's one thing to be stupid and text while driving your 3500 pound car by yourself, it's another thing to be texting when driving a bunch of kids around without seatbelts. I wouldn't tolerate this as a parent. I would take my kid off that bus.
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This is yet another reason to welcome charter schools. This bus driver should have been fired, not protected by a teachers' union that would no doubt sue the district if they fired her.Â
 @caphillkid Busdrivers are not in the same union as teachers. What she did was wrong plain and simple. She should be disciplined or fired. As for charter schools, the public is purposely not being given details. I will vote "NO". Do some research, they are not that successful. What about SPED and special needs?
 @caphillkid "Cap" for charters? Very interesting...
 @Sid Vishess I went to both public and private schools as a kid. I don't think 40 schools over 5 years for the entire state is a bad idea. Frankly, we need to be able to fire bad teachers as well as expel bad students.Â
Put cameras on the busses. Oh wait the Union wouldn't like that.
My advice to fellow bus drivers is to drive like you are being recorded at ALL times. Sometimes, when a "customer" is being an insufferable dolt, I have to remind myself of my admonition. I don't want to end up being on the wrong end of a KOMO board. (in my private life and when not in public, I have a very colorful and seasoned vocabulary).
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"Metro Driver Recorded Using An Awesome Amount of Curse Words Directed At Pestering Inebriated Jerk"
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Film At 11...
@Sid Vishess You? A colored and seasoned vocabulary? Naw...why I never would have guessed it, not you! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...
LOL...   :-)
@Sid Vishess My advise to bus drivers... Drive like you are supposed to drive. Remember, you have passengers.
Wow, everyone's going for the juglar here. 29 years of solid serivce, one mistake doesn't take all of that way. She was disciplined and is back on the job. That's how it should be. How many of you have or do text and drive? I still see it everyday, mom's with a van full of kids, teenagers, garbage truck drivers, you name it, I've seen it all.
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I'm sure she is ashamed of herself, you can rest a little easier now lakeunion. You people are ridiculously over exagerating the action issue - not what could of happened, the actual issue. Of course ALLL of you pointing the smoking gun are percfect, law abdiding, (including speed limits) wonderful, church going christians. gag me. I'm sure none of you are posting on company time either.
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Get a life, get off the witch hunt and go do something good for someone or something.
 @MoreSwaggerPlz Poor bus driver. She made a commitment to her job to ensure the safety of the children she drives but this was too inconvenient and now everyone is disappointed with her.  Never mind she could have easily crashed while texting as many do. It is justifiable because gosh, people do it everyday, so this  makes it ok. I guess we could say people molest kids every day so hey, its ok because geez, even professionals have done it.
 @MoreSwaggerPlz The texting fine should be tripled or more. It won't stop until people are hit in their wallet.
@MoreSwaggerPlz - One mistake could kill a lot of people.Â
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The driver's job is to assure the safety of her passengers and if she is texting she is endangering every child on that bus as well as motorists.
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If my child or spouse were killed because of a bus driver's selfish negligence, you can bet I would be out for blood.
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They should have summarily fired her.
 @MoreSwaggerPlz no. that's not how it should be. this behavior is inexcusable.
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only the truly stupid text while driving.
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this person is not smart enough to have a license.
@MoreSwaggerPlz - Most drunk drivers do not get caught the first time they drive drunk. I'm sure this was not her first 'mistake' (oh please it's a choice not a mistake), but first time getting caught. Her job is drive our children safely and there is absolutely no room for tolerance, statistics show that texting is a bad as being drunk!!! You are stretching when tyring to compare people's personal lives to the bus driver (that's her job and I it's not on 'her' time). A mute point as I not a church goer nor a christian as if that is the issue at hand, it's not.
This is TOTALLY outrageous and this behaviour MUST not be tolerated. I mean really folks this Parent (yes I said Parent not bus driver) should be ashamed of herself. According to this story her son is using the bus as a personal taxi service to his friends house.for a Halloween party. School buses should be used for transporting kids to and from school or for regular school related activities such as team sports or field trips as part of a school sponsered event.
If this kid is using the school bus shouldn't it be just to and from school? Should a bus driver be allowed to take students to places other then their own home when not a school sponsered event at another location? Imagine this scenario (bus driver drops her kid off at friends house for a party much like this event but while walking home to his house afterwards is tragically struck by a car and killed..........guess what parent would be sueing the school district for leaving her kid at a different location then home?) The outrage over this story should be for her son using a school bus as a taxi service. YES I get the fact this driver put kids lives at risk by texting and driving but I trust a driver with a perfect 20 year driving record to learn from her mistake and continue on providing another good twenty years of driving this valuable cargo. I would feel safer with her (after her punishment) then a brand new driver taking over. Sorry.............don't think she should be fired over this.
 @lakeunion Isn't it against the law to be even on a phone when driving anything, car, bus, truck etc.?
SHE NEEDS TO BE FIREDÂ
 @Bobbi Coleman Bobbi, can we just make an example out of you instead?
Glass houses.
Betcha her kid will still ride the same bus. Too much work involved to be on tv and drive her kid to school.
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There is a fix for using cellphones behind the wheel. However, people would lose their minds if they couldn't take or receive calls or texts while driving a 2000-5000lb vehicle at 75mph. I bet this "mom" uses her phone while her kid is in the car. But that doesn't count........right. Yawn....
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I hope cell freq jammers become commonplace in society. The tech is getting pretty cheap.Â
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Make it a standard in vehicles as soon as the vehicle is started, cell phones don't work. Of course we have the problem of "What if it's an emergency?"Â
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Touchtones of "911" would unlock it.....solved.
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Except for a cell phone can't send DTMF if it has no connection to a cell tower, but nice try there!
Who cares? I see cops doing it. Everyone with a phone does it.Â
 @PackersCougsBravesSounders "Everyone with a phone does it." Really? I don't. My cell phone is turned to silent and not in sight when I drive. And I care, when someone is drifting into my lane because they are too busy on the phone to pay attention to what they are doing.
 @PackersCougsBravesSounders It must be OK if everyone's doing it, LOL
Are you seriously this dimwit?
What a joke. It is one thing to do it in your own car by yourself but on a bus full of children. Those children's lives are in your hands not a cell phone. I am sure if the tables were turned and it were your child on that bus it would be different. Where is your mind on this. Sheesh.
 @Jordan So are you saying it is ok in your own car? You are still putting others lives at risk.
 @2009Ultra No of course not. It would not be right to text in your own car but I do not have the control what other people do in their car. All I am saying is where is this lady's common sense she has children on board and this is her job yet she is risking the lives of everyone so she can text. Her first priority should be the children.
I want to slap the sh** out of those who don't take their jobs seriously, especially when their jobs are directly tied to people's safety...Â
Texting related accidents are in the news all the time. It's one thing to look at your phone and read a message or even text back while stopped at a red light, it's another to drive with elbows or knees and being distracted. I have seen people swerve like drunkards while texting. And if you are responsible for a whole bunch of kids that aren't even buckled, that raises the bar to a new dimension.  If this was my kids driver, I would be very very upset.Â
 She's obviously a Communist.
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 @Mother Hubcap Â
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Maybe she is a Black, Muslim, Kenyan, socialist out to convert all the school children into destroying America. Â . Â
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I think Andrew Bush is related to the bus driver lol
 @jj leonard Yeah that must be it.  It has nothing to do with defending a 20 year employee from the witch hunt created here. Â
 @Andrew Bush She risked a bus full of kids life for a text. If this was a truck driver, they would have been fired.
 @jj leonard Oh well,  The school considered her many many years of dedicated service and determined her punishment which is fine by me.  Â
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The self righteous will always call for punishing everyone for everything. Â Â
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This is nothing new for them. Â Â