Drunk Bus Drivers

Recently a bus driver was suspended for being found drunk while on the job. Now MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) is proposing that bus drivers be randomly tested for drugs and drinking so as to protect the public from such an event happening again--or worse, someone being injured or killed as a result.

On the radio (CFUN) the DJ said she did not support such measures as it might be (i) an invasion of privacy and (ii) have a stigma attached to it if the results came back positive. Her example was: a driver has a couple of days off and had a good time and then has to submit to a drug/drinking test and marijuana is found to be present in his system still and then there is a whole set or preceedings like counselling, social stigma and possible loss of his job. Well, Hello! Marijuana is presently illegal in Canada and a I, as a rider, sure as heck don't want my driver to have anything like that in him when he's behind the wheel.

That reminds me of a story from Vernon Mike (a regular commentor here). In high school he heard a gal complain that new (age 16) drivers would lose their license if they were found drinking and driving (not just a 24-hour suspension or lesser penalties as per normal). Well, Hello! If you're under 19 you're not supposed to be drinking in the first place; and I'm sure that an inexperienced driver is even more of a danger when tanked up on beer.

Ok, that's my post...pretty ranty, but I don't get on these tangents much, thankfully.

Lots of work to do today, later.