Broward Transit driver: 21 crashes, 19 suspensions, still on job
The now 69-year-old driver is still on the job, despite being disciplined 32 times. His harshest punishment was a five-day suspension, though he has rear-ended 13 vehicles, hit parked cars, sideswiped other drivers, snapped off a side mirror, and repeatedly shown up late to work, county records say.
Risk management officials say he's had 21 crashes. His personnel files show he's also had scores of safety infractions.
He has been written up with 13 warnings and suspended 19 times, ordered to serve a total 40 unpaid days off. In addition, his safety record is among the worst, a 2013
His ability to remain employed despite his track record highlights the lenient Broward County Transit disciplinary system, officials complain. County transit leaders are negotiating with the bus drivers' union to make it easier to fire crash-prone bus drivers. Union leaders vowed to cooperate with reforms when their raises were up for a vote in 2013, then put up resistance to reforms a few months later.
"We've got to do something about it,"
One of Fischer's latest accidents, a chain-reaction crash in which he was cited by police, led to a lawsuit from one of the seven people injured. County commissioners voted Tuesday to pay the injured man
Because drivers' accidents are forgiven every two years, problem drivers are allowed to keep their jobs even after racking up a dozen or more crashes and scores of customer complaints.
Currently, a driver must cause five accidents in a rolling 24-month period to be fired. A driver also could run four red lights in two years' time, with a bus full of passengers, and not be fired.
Broward County Transit Director
"However," Garling said in an email, "his situation underscores the need for meaningful changes to the agreement, especially in circumstances where an individual bus operator has a continued pattern of preventable accidents. This is a priority in our current union negotiations with [
Fischer was scheduled to retire on
Fischer could not be reached for comment.
His personnel file shows he has been sent for additional driver training at least twice.
In the crash that led to Tuesday's lawsuit settlement, Fischer was westbound on a clear day on
"Traffic came to a stop all of a sudden, but I couldn't get the bus stopped fast enough," he wrote to his bosses.
He rear-ended a vehicle, which hit another vehicle, which hit another.
He was cited for careless driving, and two people were taken to the hospital.
Fischer was suspended for three days.
Not all his crashes involved other vehicles.
Once he was caught on video at the bus yard driving through the exit side of the gate, breaking it.
He "stated that he went through the gate's arm because it didn't open and he had to get to work and was worried about being late," his personnel file says.
He was advised to use the callbox next time so the dispatcher could let him in.
Some of his mishaps involved other buses.
In one case, he hit a parked
After one minor crash, when he hit a bus at the terminal, supervisors noted he "has become careless with his driving."
They asked if he needed the employee-assistance program, a customary question for drivers with repeat accidents.
But, the file shows, he stated "he does not have any problems but has been careless in his driving habits and will work on correcting them."
That was 23 years ago.
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