Bus hanging over CBE...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

You gotta stop making shit up whole cloth.

You're welcome to go back in this thread and read everything I and others have said, and try to find me a post that reflects that. We've read from the news and looked at the reports.

Not sure why you think your nameless source speculation is somehow better than everybody else's.

Moving on! 

No one's info is any better. That's the point. The sooner you get that the better we'll be.

[MHV9218]

[Lawrence St]

Dam, watching you two argue is better then watching SNL!

[MHV9218]

If anybody wants to come at me for *checks notes* linking to Channel 7, I'm here all day for it. Said from the start, glad everybody's ok, we'll see what happened.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Dam, watching you two argue is better then watching SNL!

He acts like he works at the  or something. I have a few contacts, some official and some not, but I've never acted as if the information I am told is somehow gold or anything, not unless I have something official. As a matter of fact, we were discussing this in my group and I was approached in private about background info. I didn't go looking.  employees, particularly those that I know are not supposed to be discussing such matters on social media, but they will say something in private. The consensus is he'll be fired because supposedly he didn't follow protocol. At the end of the day, I don't work at the  and I have no say in this, so it'll go however it goes.

[MHV9218]

My guy.

Here's how this went. This thread started, all of us were like 'damn what happened.'

You came in and told everybody to stop wondering, for no good reason.

I posted from Channel 7 to update people. Never said it was last the word. Never said I worked at the MTA.

You posted again, called me a 'big mouth know-it-all' (because I...linked to the news?), then said 'everybody has to stop speculating, my nameless source says this.' 

We are now here. 

----

Anyway, for those of us who actually just want to talk about the news in this story, here's Gothamist's new coverage:

https://gothamist.com/news/bus-driver-harrowing-bronx-crash-disputes-mtas-claims-he-refused-drug-test

Quote

The bus operator who crashed through guard rails, sending a bus dangling over the edge of an overpass in the Bronx, is disputing the MTA's claims that he refused to take a drug test.

Everton Beccan, 55, and the union held a press conference outside his home on Saturday, where Beccan asserted that he did not refuse to take a drug test, after the MTA claimed he refused to take one required under federal rules.

"I did not refuse to take a drug test," Beccan told reporters, still reeling from a painful jaw fracture as well as neck and back pain. "The hospital took the drug test."

Around 11 p.m. on Thursday night, Beccan was driving a Bx35 bus on University Avenue when he tried to turn left onto a ramp to the George Washington Bridge, but instead, sped through guard rails, sending the accordion bus over the edge of an overpass above the Cross Bronx Expressway.

Beccan and seven other passengers were injured in the harrowing crash, the FDNY said Sunday. One person was in critical condition after being rescued, the NY Times reported.

The MTA's Interim Transit President Sarah Feinberg said on Friday the driver had refused a federally mandated drug and alcohol test after passing a breathalyzer test at the scene. But a day later, the union revealed a document showing Beccan underwent a urine drug test at the hospital on Friday morning around 10:30 a.m. -- nearly 12 hours after the crash. The results of that test have not been made public.

Richard Davis, the vice president of the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, said Beccan feels like a "damned employee," and despite being in pain, felt compelled to hold a press conference to counter the MTA's claims.

"He feels very emotionally hurt by that," Davis said. "He said no one, no one asked him to take a drug test. He wouldn't refuse it. So he doesn't know where that's coming from."

The MTA, however, is still disputing Beccan's claims.

Quote

"This was a tragic incident for all involved and the MTA continues to provide the full facts to the public," MTA Chief Communications Officer Abbey Collins said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the bus operator refused his FTA and MTA-mandated drug and alcohol test multiple times. This is a straightforward, nonnegotiable, federally-mandated requirement of all bus operators and other safety sensitive personnel."

"We cannot make any exceptions to this requirement nor should we," Collins said.

The authority released an internal document showing that an MTA drug and alcohol technician had communicated with a doctor, who said Beccan had refused to take a drug test after 3 a.m., when the tech arrived.

"I told the doctor that he will need to tell me to my face that he was refusing the test, and the consequences of not taking the test," the tech wrote in a letter dated January 15th. The tech wrote the doctor passed on the message, but the employee still refused, the letter reads.

Davis noted that it appears the tech did not speak to the employee directly.

"The MTA admitted themselves that no one went to the room," Davis said. "How would the tech know that he even refused a drug test because the tech never asked him?"

An MTA official said the tech did everything possible to reach Beccan, and noted the doctor indicated Beccan had refused, not that he was incapable of responding. The MTA official also emphasized Beccan needed to take the federally mandated test that's required to be administered expeditiously, rather than the urine drug test taken hours later.

An MTA dispatcher had asked Beccan for a statement in the hospital room that evening, which he could not provide due to his jaw injuries, but no other MTA rep had spoken to him that night, according to Davis.

G.P.S. data indicated the bus was going 17 to 26 miles per hour at the turn, where it should have been going 3 to 4 miles per hour. Beccan said during the press conference he lost control of the bus as he was making the turn. He had eased off the gas pedal, but the bus "just took off," he said.

Davis says he and TWU have requested maintenance and mechanical records for the bus that Beccan was driving, but the authority has not yet provided those. The MTA said there's no indication there was a mechanical failure, but the investigation continues.

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by MHV9218

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Uh huh... lol

[Lex]

16 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Uh huh... lol

Dude, just hold this.

On a different note, I hope that everyone keeps this debacle in mind, because the next incident of this sort may be even worse.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, Lex said:

Dude, just hold this.

On a different note, I hope that everyone keeps this debacle in mind, because the next incident of this sort may be even worse.

And why is that exactly?

[Lex]

5 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

And why is that exactly?

I was vague because any part of another situation like this one (either the incident itself or the aftermath) could be worse. Some things that could be worse during another incident are the point of impact and the severity of the casualties (casualties in general are bad, but there's a sharp divide between minor cuts and bruises and death).

Going forward, those in charge of operating vehicles will need to bear in mind that even seeming to refuse or delay a mandatory drug test will paint a grim picture both with the MTA and the public. As for the MTA, if it actually is the case that Everton Beccan did his due diligence in the proper time frame, the scorn will shift away from him to his employer, thus making any statement of the sort much harder to accept in the future, which is especially bad for a state-run entity.

[+Young+]

I've been thinking about something in regards to the drug (urine) screen in which I would like your opinion on:

This image shows the receipt that the Bus Operator obtained when he was discharged from the hospital. According to the sheet, the specimen was received eight minutes before the paperwork was printed. However, for those of us who took a drug (urine) test, we usually receive a copy of the "Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form," which can be seen here and here. Therefore, although it is going to take some time before a final report is released, why didn't the Bus Operator show his copy of the "Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form?" Interesting...

On 1/17/2021 at 8:01 PM, Lex said:

Going forward, those in charge of operating vehicles will need to bear in mind that even seeming to refuse or delay a mandatory drug test will paint a grim picture both with the MTA and the public ... The scorn will shift away from him to his employer, thus making any statement of the sort much harder to accept in the future, which is especially bad for a state-run entity.

My apologies for repeating myself, however, you know that, according to this post, some people, when going for their THIRD pre-employment on the 5th Floor of 180 Livingston Street have to wait SEVEN hours for a THIRD consecutive drug (urine) test which is mandatory for pre-employment, right? I'm not saying that one incident is worse than the other, however, from my perspective, both of these situations are bad enough and need to be addressed, "especially ... for a state-run entity," respectively.

[Deucey]

48 minutes ago, +Young+ said:

I've been thinking about something in regards to the drug (urine) screen in which I would like your opinion on:

This image shows the receipt that the Bus Operator obtained when he was discharged from the hospital. According to the sheet, the specimen was received eight minutes before the paperwork was printed. However, for those of us who took a drug (urine) test, we usually receive a copy of the "Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form," which can be seen here and here. Therefore, although it is going to take some time before a final report is released, why didn't the Bus Operator show his copy of the "Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form?" Interesting...

One done in a medical clinic for testing or screening that isn't Occupational Health related doesn't need federal testing custody forms since those results are patient property and aren't released to anyone else without the patient or POA authorizing it - since it falls under medical privacy laws including HIPAA.

The forms you linked to are required when someone else not entitled to your Private Health Information is mandating the testing - as those forms clearly indicate that the employer is involved and entitled to receive the results. That's governed by employment laws.

Since this driver was likely transported by ambulance after emergency triage - which he could've declined since EMTs and Paramedics don't have to obey a job site supervisor and by default aren't occupational medicine practitioners, he never would've completed that form. He'd complete the hospital's proprietary release of information form.

(Likewise he wouldn't be able to complete a DOT test prior to transport because it was an emergency medical situation.)

[kosciusko]

delete

Edited January 20, 2021 by kosciusko