A single photo has put the brakes on a Calgary school bus driver’s career.
The woman was driving students to and from Harold Panabaker School in the southwest when she was caught on camera using a cell phone while behind the wheel.
An upset 12-year-old student snapped the picture last week after complaining about her mobile device for months.
“He told us she was hanging on to the phone and talking and shielding it from other students,” his father, Mark Tallack, told The Calgary Sun.
After feeling like he hadn’t gotten anywhere, he told his son to snap a picture of her the next time he saw her using the mobile device.
The 12-year-old took the picture last week; it was then forwarded to the school’s principal and the head of transportation for the Calgary Board of Education.
Acting Director of Planning, Transportation and Environmental Services, Donna Crawford, says this woman will never drive CBE students again.
Crawford says they expect drivers to drive in a way that’s safe and in accordance with the rules of the road.
She plans to push both bus companies employed by the board to review the rules with their drivers.
The woman was the focus of an investigation by First Student Canada earlier this year, but no evidence of wrongdoing was found at the time.
A spokesman for the company says management will now meet with her to decide her fate.
“We have a zero tolerance policy for using cellphones,” he says.
The fine for distracted driving in Alberta is $172.
School bus driver curbed for using cell phone while behind the wheel
Ian Campbell
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