Sudoku-playing bus driver busted in Surrey
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | 9:03 AM PT
CBC News
A video apparently showing a Coast Mountain Bus Driver playing a sudoku puzzle while driving was posted on YouTube. (YouTube)A Metro Vancouver bus driver is under investigation after being caught on camera apparently working on a sudoku puzzle while driving his route.
The Coast Mountain Bus Company launched the investigation after passenger Gordon MacDonald recorded the incident with his cellphone camera and posted it on the YouTube video website.
MacDonald said he had just gotten off the SkyTrain in Surrey and onto a bus headed for Langley around 5 p.m. Monday when he noticed the bizarre behaviour.
"The driver pulled out of the bus stop and got onto the Fraser Highway. And then he got out his suduko and put it on the steering wheel, and started trying to solve his sudoku problem while we were going down the Fraser Highway," he said.
'The previous week during a rainstorm, he was reading a magazine.'—Gordon MacDonald, bus passenger
MacDonald said it wasn't the first time he noticed that particular driver amusing himself in traffic.
"The previous week during a rainstorm, he was reading a magazine on that same route," he told CBC News on Wednesday morning.
MacDonald said he felt enough was enough and used his cellphone to record the driver. He then sent the video to the Coast Mountain Bus Company and posted it on YouTube.
Investigation launched
Coast Mountain spokesman Derek Zabel said it does appear the driver was doing some sort of puzzle while driving and an investigation is underway.
"We've identified who the driver is, and will conduct a pretty thorough investigation. This is something we take pretty seriously. Safety is our No. 1 priority," said Zabel.
But Zabel wouldn't discuss what, if any, punishment the driver could face, saying that is a privacy issue. He said bus drivers are trained to keep their attention on the road at all times, and the company believed the incident was an isolated case of bad judgment.
"Ninety-nine per cent of our drivers do an excellent job, day in and day out. I think something like this is a one-off thing, and this person made the wrong decision," said Zabel.
