ATU calls for felony charges for transit agency with mandatory overtime for bus drivers
Washington, DC – Hampton Roads Transit has been forcing bus drivers to work overtime beyond their physical limits putting riders, bus drivers and the community at serious risk says the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).
The agency has made bus drivers work 21 days straight violating work rules that require operators to have two days off every seven days. In an act of further intimidation, bus operators who tell the agency they can’t drive overtime because they are too fatigued have been disciplined or threated with termination.
“Safety is job number one and having bus operators working 21-days straight defies common sense,” says Amanda Sawyer-Malone, president of ATU Local 1177, representing Hampton Roads Transit drivers and workers. “This is a fatal accident waiting to happen. It’s time to stop threatening drivers who don’t want to work overtime and instead focus on ensuring safety and service for riders.”
Research shows driving while fatigued is a serious problem. One in five serious crashes in the U.S. involves drowsy driving according to Charles A. Czeisler, a professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School. His decades-long research shows that sleep-deprived drivers take three times as long to react to traffic hazards and often are more impaired than drunk drivers.
Furthermore according to the Centers for Disease Control being awake for 17 hours is similar to having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05% (the level some countries use for drunk driving violations).
Czeisler has also found that sleep-deprived bus drivers, truckers and other professional drivers are actually more likely than average drivers to switch to autopilot and do something to cause a crash.
“When the safety of the public is at risk forcing bus operators to work overtime beyond their physical limits is a felony and transit agencies like Hampton Roads Transit should be held accountable,” says ATU International President Larry Hanley. “Bus passengers and drivers on our roads have a right to expect that when they board a bus to go to work, school or the doctor their bus driver is well rested and alert.”