NJ TRANSIT Driver Caught Counting Cash, Using Phone Behind The Wheel
WEEHAWKEN N.J. (CBSNewYork) – Some NJ TRANSIT passengers are expressing their concern after seeing another distracted driver behind the wheel of their bus.
How'd you like to look up and see your bus driver counting cash, his hands barely on the steering wheel, but nonetheless still driving right along with a bus packed full of commuters?
That's not all. When the driver was done with the cash, he goes to his cell phone. His bus was still moving at a good clip, with the driver multi-tasking at the worst possible time.
"I witnessed the driver doing a multitude of things while driving," a commuter named Nancy told CBS2's Lisa Rozner.
Nancy recorded the incident. She told CBS2 that it happened Thursday morning on the 177X bus on the 495 approach to the Lincoln Tunnel and adds that counting cash was not even the worst of it.
"He then kind of dropped some of the cash by his foot. He then proceeded to kind of bend down while holding the steering wheel to pick up the cash," the bus passenger detailed.
When the driver was done with his cash and his phone, he then started eating.
"Then whipped out the banana peeled the banana, ate the banana, and then had a makeshift garbage with a plastic bag that he had."
This is not the first time CBS2 has caught drivers counting cash. In May, a woman taped another NJ TRANSIT rider on Route 3 with his hands barely on the wheel counting cash.
MORE: Video: Driver Counts Cash As NJ TRANSIT Bus Heads Down Highway
"A few times, texting on the phone, handling the money," Jenna Belits of Astoria said.
"There's a lot of stop and go in the tunnel, stopped for a long period of time and start doing something, and start moving."
Riders say they have a message for NJ TRANSIT.
"Do better, do better with everything," Rosalind demanded.
"Clean up your act," Ronnie Santos of teaneck added.
NJ Transit says the driver is in clear violation of several rules and regulations, they say appropriate action will be taken to see this won't happen again.
They say if passengers see this kind of behavior report it and if you feel you are in imminent danger, you should ask to be let off the bus.
