Busdriver Loses Job for Killing Snowman

[Robert_S]

It's the biggest news out of Champaign-Urbana Illinois since the Hal 9000.

A bus driver in the US has been forced to resigned after flattening a snowman that had been left as a prank in the middle of the road by students.

The public transit bus is seen in a YouTube video deliberately veering out of its lane towards the icy creation left in the middle of a quiet residential street.

The bus doesn’t slow down as it ploughs over the snowman and flattens it.

The students who placed the snowman in the road can be heard shrieking with laughter after it is runover.

The incident was filmed on the on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, Illinois.

Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District spokeswoman Jan Kijowski said the driver has resigned after the incident was posted on YouTube.

Kijowski said the district is taking the opportunity to remind bus drivers of what not to do.

'Whenever an incident occurs, we try to use it as a teaching opportunity to remind the operators what are the safe and good choices that can be made,' Kijowski said.

The video, called 'Insane Bus Driver Brutally Murders Snowman', has received over 25,000 hits since being posted on December 4th.

Minutes before the bus approaches a car can be seen slowing down and driving round the snowman obstacle.

But the video has sparked a social media debate over who was really at fault – the bus driver or whoever put that snowman there.

More than 800 people had joined a Facebook page devoted to reinstating the bus driver.

'Help the Bus Driver who killed the evil snowman, get his job back,' one of the comments says.

Some people said the bus driver,who has not been identified, prevented an accident by demolishing the road obstacle.

Busdriver:



Snowman:

[JQisAwesome]

It sounds like the guys who built the snowman were hardly children! They sound like juvenile, college-aged dudes, snickering as the bus driver (joining in the fun) ran it over.

[Feck]

Driving on the wrong side of the snowy road in order to hit an object in the road in a bus.......... not the best driving

[Robert_S]

Driving on the wrong side of the snowy road in order to hit an object in the road in a bus.......... not the best driving

A hell of a lot better than leaving it there on a snowy road to possibly cause an accident later! As I recall, our municipal workers and cops had their hands full that night.

It sounds like the guys who built the snowman were hardly children! They sound like juvenile, college-aged dudes, snickering as the bus driver (joining in the fun) ran it over.

Yes. As a friend of mine who lived on this campus once said:"The only dumber than the frat boys pushing the dumpsters (skips) into the streets for a laugh are the sorority girls who stop in front of them and honk"

[mistermack]

Seems a bit over-the-top to sack the bus driver. But there could have been a kid hiding behind it, so it was a particularly bad bit of driving.
.

[Faithfree]

The correct response of the driver should have been to attempt an emergency stop in the icy conditions, loosing control, rolling the bus and killing a few of his passengers. At least the lawyers could have win!




Because of the crap quality of the video it's not at all clear that the driver deliberately swerved to hit the snowman, rather than had trouble steering the bus in the icy conditions or even seeing the snowman against the white backdrop.

[mistermack]

The correct response of the driver should have been to attempt an emergency stop in the icy conditions, loosing control, rolling the bus and killing a few of his passengers. At least the lawyers could have win!

Because of the crap quality of the video it's not at all clear that the driver deliberately swerved to hit the snowman, rather than had trouble steering the bus in the icy conditions or even seeing the snowman against the white backdrop.

Nah, it's clear enough. He swerved across the road to hit the snowman, through the slush and ice in the middle of the road. Then he had to cross back again.
It was a stupid thing to do. I wouldn't be amused, if my kids were on board, or walking along the street.
.

[Animavore]

The snowman had it coming.

[Robert_S]

The correct response of the driver should have been to attempt an emergency stop in the icy conditions, loosing control, rolling the bus and killing a few of his passengers. At least the lawyers could have win!

Because of the crap quality of the video it's not at all clear that the driver deliberately swerved to hit the snowman, rather than had trouble steering the bus in the icy conditions or even seeing the snowman against the white backdrop.

Nah, it's clear enough. He swerved across the road to hit the snowman, through the slush and ice in the middle of the road. Then he had to cross back again.
It was a stupid thing to do. I wouldn't be amused, if my kids were on board, or walking along the street.
.

If there was no oncoming traffic, then it was safe for everyone except the hypothetical Darwin Award candidate hiding behind the snowman. It was a nice smooth swerve and the driver was in complete control the whole time, unlike what might have happened if a small car had braked and gone into a skid. It was the first or second snow here and we have a lot of students who aren't with with winter driving.

Which is safer, an experienced driver swerving a few seconds or cars swerving all night long?

[Trolldor]

I think the problem was that he swerved on to the wrong side of the road, not that he flattened a snowman.

And swerving on to the wrong side of the road is a very simple and resounding "Don't."

[stripes4]

Sad. Snowman didn't have a chance. You can see that he was simply frozen with fear.

[Trolldor]

The correct response of the driver should have been to attempt an emergency stop in the icy conditions, loosing control, rolling the bus and killing a few of his passengers. At least the lawyers could have win!

Because of the crap quality of the video it's not at all clear that the driver deliberately swerved to hit the snowman, rather than had trouble steering the bus in the icy conditions or even seeing the snowman against the white backdrop.

Nah, it's clear enough. He swerved across the road to hit the snowman, through the slush and ice in the middle of the road. Then he had to cross back again.
It was a stupid thing to do. I wouldn't be amused, if my kids were on board, or walking along the street.
.

If there was no oncoming traffic, then it was safe for everyone except the hypothetical Darwin Award candidate hiding behind the snowman. It was a nice smooth swerve and the driver was in complete control the whole time, unlike what might have happened if a small car had braked and gone into a skid. It was the first or second snow here and we have a lot of students who aren't with with winter driving.

Which is safer, an experienced driver swerving a few seconds or cars swerving all night long?

Who gives a shit? He broke the law and created a severe level of unnecessary risk while he had passengers.

[Robert_S]

The correct response of the driver should have been to attempt an emergency stop in the icy conditions, loosing control, rolling the bus and killing a few of his passengers. At least the lawyers could have win!

Because of the crap quality of the video it's not at all clear that the driver deliberately swerved to hit the snowman, rather than had trouble steering the bus in the icy conditions or even seeing the snowman against the white backdrop.

Nah, it's clear enough. He swerved across the road to hit the snowman, through the slush and ice in the middle of the road. Then he had to cross back again.
It was a stupid thing to do. I wouldn't be amused, if my kids were on board, or walking along the street.
.

If there was no oncoming traffic, then it was safe for everyone except the hypothetical Darwin Award candidate hiding behind the snowman. It was a nice smooth swerve and the driver was in complete control the whole time, unlike what might have happened if a small car had braked and gone into a skid. It was the first or second snow here and we have a lot of students who aren't with with winter driving.

Which is safer, an experienced driver swerving a few seconds or cars swerving all night long?

Who gives a shit? He broke the law and created a severe level of unnecessary risk while he had passengers.

Decreased the risk to the passengers next time around. Seconds before there was a car in his lane.

[Trolldor]

No, he didn't decrease the risk to the passengers at all. There is no evidence for it.

[mistermack]

To say that this was a safer option is daft.
Cars coming the other way would have to wait, till it was safe to pass it, not swerve into the path of an oncoming bus. It's not like it was invisible.
Or they could gently push it over with their car, if they felt like it.
Or a bus coming the other way could push it over.
What he did was the dangerous option.
.