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Color blind MTA bus driver fights to get back behind wheel

Turbo19

By Turbo19,
in New York City Bus

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Turbo19

Turbo19

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color20n-1-web.jpgVeteran MTA driver Jose Cruz wants to take demonstrate his ability to drive safely.

 

A bus driver who was taken off the road for being color blind is fighting to get back behind the wheel.

 

Jose Cruz, a veteran MTA bus driver, wants to take a road test to demonstrate he can maneuver through the city safely.

 

But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority says Cruz is better suited for his new position - cleaning dashboards in a depot.


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Turbo19

Turbo19

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Lmfaoo they violated... they said Cruz is better suited for his new position as cleaning dashboards in a depot Lmaoo

Man that's way f**ked up.

 

 

I was reading this on Facebook this morning...I say just reassign him, it covers the MTAs ass just in case of an accident...you know that's the first thing they're gonna bring up.

Personally I'm one for equal opportunity. If he is capable of passing a road test, thus demonstrating his abilities at operating a transit bus I say let him.

 

Sure one could argue the MTA would be foolish to put this impaired (by definition) man behind the wheel, but on the contrary he has managed to hold his position for so long that he has reached veteran status.

 

On the basis of equal opportunity I say keep him behind the wheel.

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Blitz

Blitz

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I wouldn't take the risk with him mistaking the light and getting into an accident on the road. god knows people would also sue the mta if they knowingly let this guy drive on the road and if he injured anyone. I think if it's confined to the depot, move the buses around or something, then fine.

not even, most likely he will be sweeping buses for the rest of his time in the company. But he will keep his bus driver pay...until the b7s drivers get a raise.
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Theorem Ox

Theorem Ox

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How the heck did he pass all the previous tests? Color blindness is a lifelong ailment

 

The NYDN article doesn't make it quite clear on Mr. Cruz's background (to me, "veteran MTA bus driver"  in that exact capitalization could be reasonably used as a colloquial term for TA/OA bus drivers as well as for actual MTA Bus Company drivers). But I can speculate on one possibility:

 

Perhaps Mr. Cruz was originally an employee of one of the pre-2006 private bus operating companies (e.g.: Green Bus Lines, Queens Surface, Triboro Coach, etc.), which didn't have stringent qualification requirements as the MTA does (at least on the colorblindness aspect). He decided to reprise his role with the MTA organization when the routes were transferred. Given the massive increase in bus routes, I'm sure the MTA initially didn't mind taking on the incumbent drivers and took their time re-evaluating their expanded staff.

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QM1to6Ave

QM1to6Ave

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The NYDN article doesn't make it quite clear on Mr. Cruz's background (to me, "veteran MTA bus driver"  in that exact capitalization could be reasonably used as a colloquial term for TA/OA bus drivers as well as for actual MTA Bus Company drivers). But I can speculate on one possibility:

 

Perhaps Mr. Cruz was originally an employee of one of the pre-2006 private bus operating companies (e.g.: Green Bus Lines, Queens Surface, Triboro Coach, etc.), which didn't have stringent qualification requirements as the MTA does (at least on the colorblindness aspect). He decided to reprise his role with the MTA organization when the routes were transferred. Given the massive increase in bus routes, I'm sure the MTA initially didn't mind taking on the incumbent drivers and took their time re-evaluating their expanded staff.

Definitely a possibility. Though not being able to identify basic traffic light colors would seem to be a pretty major red flag for a B/O. Perhaps since the lights are always in the same order on the street no one noticed.

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KNIGHTRIDER3:16

KNIGHTRIDER3:16

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The NYDN article doesn't make it quite clear on Mr. Cruz's background (to me, "veteran MTA bus driver"  in that exact capitalization could be reasonably used as a colloquial term for TA/OA bus drivers as well as for actual MTA Bus Company drivers). But I can speculate on one possibility:

 

Perhaps Mr. Cruz was originally an employee of one of the pre-2006 private bus operating companies (e.g.: Green Bus Lines, Queens Surface, Triboro Coach, etc.), which didn't have stringent qualification requirements as the MTA does (at least on the colorblindness aspect). He decided to reprise his role with the MTA organization when the routes were transferred. Given the massive increase in bus routes, I'm sure the MTA initially didn't mind taking on the incumbent drivers and took their time re-evaluating their expanded staff.

We we're all taken over in 2005-6 and MTA. Medical is strict from the start so this was either hidden l or came out by mouth. ..We get medical and recert every year and we're in 2013 so from 05 till now. ...somebody tell me what i miss here

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Theorem Ox

Theorem Ox

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Definitely a possibility. Though not being able to identify basic traffic light colors would seem to be a pretty major red flag for a B/O. Perhaps since the lights are always in the same order on the street no one noticed.

 

That's true. Most city traffic lights are of the three aspect variety (red, yellow and green), though you do occasionally run into the single (usually flashing) or the two aspect.

 

I suppose if I'm in Mr. Cruz's shoes while on the job, if I had any doubts as to what color a signal was, I'd treat it as a red. Sure, some passenger and vehicles behind might get annoyed, but it's probably the safest way to approach the problem.

 

 

We we're all taken over in 2005-6 and MTA. Medical is strict from the start so this was either hidden l or came out by mouth. ..We get medical and recert every year and we're in 2013 so from 05 till now. ...somebody tell me what i miss here

 

It was just a hypothesis on my end. You may be right that Mr. Cruz might have hid his condition in prior examinations (evidently successfully until recently) and/or somebody dimed him out.

 

When I used to work for a branch of the NYC municipal government, I saw both situations at play - moreso with the latter than the former.

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Via Garibaldi 8

Via Garibaldi 8

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Yeah, something is definitely fishy here because as QM1 said he didn't just become colorblind, so either he confessed (which would be dumb on his part seeing that he's fighting to keep his job, or someone ratted him out).  Either way, there is no way this guy is getting behind the wheel and the (MTA) 's lawyers will simply argue that his current condition puts the lives of too many at risk. What he did in the past is irrelevant.  They are about the here and now.

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Vistausss

Vistausss

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I do wonder why people find this so risky. Can someone point me to a source that says he had at least 3 accidents prior to 2013? If not, then let 'em keep his job. If he knows what he's doing and he can pass a road test then why not. Road tests can be pretty strict so if he can pass that then surely he can be a bus driver.

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Via Garibaldi 8

Via Garibaldi 8

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I do wonder why people find this so risky. Can someone point me to a source that says he had at least 3 accidents prior to 2013? If not, then let 'em keep his job. If he knows what he's doing and he can pass a road test then why not. Road tests can be pretty strict so if he can pass that then surely he can be a bus driver.

I'm sorry but I do not want someone behind the wheel who can't tell the difference between a green light and a red light.  We have enough loonies behind the wheel these days as it is.

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RookiePhenom

RookiePhenom

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I'm sorry but I do not want someone behind the wheel who can't tell the difference between a green light and a red light.  We have enough loonies behind the wheel these days as it is.

 

I'm positive that drivers (both achromatic or otherwise) can tell the difference between a green and a red...

 

Unless it is flashing, which I would assert a default red.

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Turbo19

Turbo19

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Well if that's the case, explain why he failed to do so during the test he took?

 

It could be the test was administered in a way that wasn't as related to an actual situation.

 

For example solid colors on their own are a bit more difficult to differentiate, while in the three light sequence (red, amber, green) distinguishing the three becomes much more simplified to most.

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bobtehpanda

bobtehpanda

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@vg8: Then explain why he has been a bus driver for so long without causing any accidents?

 

Driving without causing an accident does not necessarily mean driving safely. The MTA should be putting safety first, and it has a very long list of applicants who wish to become B/Os and T/Os, so why risk it?

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