Drivers Say Bus Safety Checks Not Proper

Orange County bus drivers say they plan to file a lawsuit today accusing the Orange County Transportation Authority of jeopardizing passenger safety by not providing drivers enough time for state-mandated safety checks and passing work to mechanics to take up the slack.

At issue are daily inspections that, according to a letter from the California Highway Patrol, are “specifically a driver responsibility” that cannot be “delegated to someone other than the driver.”

Although state law does not specify how long drivers should have to complete such inspections before leaving on their routes, drivers in nearby counties are given 15 to 20 minutes to do them, while drivers in Orange County are given only five minutes under a contract that took effect in May.

“That’s not enough time to do it,” said Terry Crane, a bus driver and steward for Teamsters Union Local 952, which said it will file the lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of the county’s more than 700 bus drivers. “Sometimes it takes three to four minutes just to walk out to the bus.”

John Standiford, a spokesman for the transit agency, said the new inspection time--reduced from 15 minutes under the old contract--is legal and adequate because many of the items formerly inspected by drivers are now handled by maintenance workers before the driver ever gets to the bus. He said it’s irrelevant who does the inspections.

“Our drivers aren’t doing the same things here that they’re doing in those other counties,” Standiford said.

Under current procedures, he said, maintenance workers test bus lights and the wheelchair lift, make sure tires are ready for operation and check the fire extinguisher and emergency reflectors--all of which were once handled by drivers.

In the five minutes between the time they clock in and drive their buses off the yard, he said, drivers are expected to check air brake pressure, the horn, public address system, windshield wipers, mirrors and the door interlock, which prevents the bus from moving while its doors are ajar.

“It’s just a once-over to make sure that the bus is ready to go out on the road,” Standiford said of the drivers’ responsibilities. “We’ve cut down on what the bus driver has to look at, which is why they don’t need the full time.”

But delegating major inspection responsibilities to maintenance personnel, the lawsuit will contend, violates several state codes. And a recent letter to the union from the California Highway Patrol seems to support that assertion.

“The requirement to perform a daily pre-trip inspection applies to all bus drivers without exception,” H.E. Robinson, then commander of the CHP’s Commercial Vehicle Section, wrote in a letter to the union in June. “There is no legal provision for this task to be delegated to someone other than the driver, such as a mechanic who may arrive at work early to start the buses and ‘check them out.’ ”

In an interview this week, Manny Padilla, the section’s current commander, agreed.

“In the interests of safety,” he said, “we’d like to see the most thorough inspection done by the operator. The driver is ultimately responsible for the safety of the passengers.”

All of which has Orange County bus drivers nervous.

“We, as professional drivers, are responsible,” said Irv Geller, a driver for 12 years. “We are ultimately the ones that get nailed if anything goes wrong.”

To prevent mishaps, Geller said, he routinely arrives at work early enough to perform a complete inspection on his own time, a routine that generally takes 12 to 15 minutes, he says.

“That way, when I do it, I know that it’s done,” he said Thursday as he walked around bus No. 3113, tapping on tires and checking for loose lug nuts. “It’s my responsibility. When I take the bus out, I want to know that it’s ready to go.”