Driver's 'reckless' act while transporting bus full of people from Aussie airport
A passenger returning from dangerous FIFO work said the scariest part of his stint away was the bus ride from the airport.
A driver who was allegedly captured making a bank transfer and reading text messages on his phone while shuttling a full busload of people from an Aussie airport has been "immediately suspended" following an urgent investigation.
FIFO worker Warren Smith filmed the driver allegedly making an online payment while driving in peak-hour traffic along the Gateway Motorway in Brisbane late last month. Smith said he was heading home to the Sunshine Coast after being away for work when he noticed the bus driver's "reckless" behaviour
"So I thought I’d just take a little recording, and as I was recording there he was doing a bank transfer, then he went into his messages, while driving a full bus," Smith told The Courier Mail.
"A bit later on he changed lanes, cut a car off and they were honking at him, so he was just a bit of a reckless driver and wasn’t paying attention."
Smith acknowledged that sometimes drivers do need to use their phones while on-shift, but branded the driver's behaviour in this instance "ridiculous".
"The phone was on a mount in front of the driver and while I understand it’s not unethical for drivers to occasionally use their phone for work, they might have to check in along the way, but what he was doing was sending money and that would not be part of the job description I imagine. It’s ridiculous," he said.
"I’m a FIFO worker, I help build transmission lines, a highly dangerous job, all over the country.
"We use helicopters, a lot of dangerous equipment and the most dangerous part of my month away at work was the drive from the Brisbane Airport back to the Sunshine Coast."
Bus company suspends driver
Smith was offered a refund and an apology from the Con-X-ion shuttle bus company, but said in future he simply will opt for other modes of transport.
Con-X-ion director Paul Stratton said the driver had been immediately suspended after an inquiry into the matter.
"There was initial confusion as to which driver was involved in this incident as a third party contracted driver also provided one portion of the transfer for this client," Stratton told The Courier Mail.
"After further investigation we have identified that the driver in question was a driver working for Con-X-ion. Con-X-ion does not tolerate any of our drivers driving in an unsafe or distracted manner and we are extremely disappointed with the action of the driver on this occasion.
He said the driver involved has been immediately suspended and the company will carry out its "disciplinary process".
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