On November 19, 2010, I witinessed an accident. I was on the Q 29 bus, at about 10:50 in the A.M. and the bus had just made the turn behind the Queens Center Mall at 92nd street. A blind man and his aide was preparing to alight the bus. In the process of doing so he fell getting off the bus. The bus driver never made a move to help him. He just sat in his drivers seat and watched. A woman waiting for the bus helped the man up. I heard her tell the bus driver when she got on the bus that he had been too far away from the curb. Oh, there was no response to that either. After the man was upright and the new passenger had stepped on to the bus, the driver took off like a bat at of hell. Literally.
I was upset that this had happened to begin with and the fact it was not handled properly by the bus driver. I sent a complaint to the MTA, that same day, which included the bus number, plus all the facts that took place. On Wedneday, January 5th I received a response from the MTA to the effect that they are backlogged. They are backlogged because of an ongoing merger of their operations, administration and personnel. My goodness how many complaints do they actually have?
They are presently in the process of clearing their backlog. Well lordy, lordy after 47 days I get jibber-jabber. Be still my heart. What kind of bureaucratic gobbledly-gook is this? This is just letting me know that they are going to let me know.
It’s perfect, after all this time they probably will not be able to find who drove which bus where. It’s just not right. I have witnessed only one other accident while on a bus, and the incident was handled so professionaly by the bus driver. I guess was misguided, I thought they all went to the same classes about what to do in the event of….
Careful people, take heed, these are bus drivers in whom we place our safety on a daily basis. Scary isn’t it.
Sincerely,
Lucille Giordano
