In an unexpected twist, SBS Transit assured the public that the bus driver who seemed to have been dozing off behind the wheel was simply ailed by… neck pains?
Yesterday, a viral video clip depicted an SBS driver nodding his head downwards, jerking along to the bumpy movements of the bus — actions visibly similar to individuals struggling to stay awake. The fact that he seemed to be catching some Zs while driving a bus with actual passengers was clearly alarming, but not as disturbing as the fact that the video-taker did not assist the driver.
As odd as the clarification sounded, SBS Transit mentioned that their investigations — based on CCTV footage from the bus — revealed that the driver was not falling asleep, after all. According to their response to various media queries, the driver in subject simply had neck pains that caused him to “bend more than normal”. The condition, however, did not affect his driving ability, and CCTV footage showed that he “kept to his lane, slowed down when approaching bus stops and also stopped safely behind other buses or vehicles”.
“All these would not have been possible had he been dozing off at the wheel,” said SBS Transit’s senior vice-president of corporate communications Tammy Tan.
She went on to assure that actual dozing off while driving was not something the company took lightly, and they would not hesitate to take action against any bus driver found doing so.
If the man really had been snoozing behind the wheel, it would have been a tragic story altogether. Drowsy bus drivers have caused absolute mayhem on the roads overseas — dozens of passengers were injured and one died in hospital last year after a driver of a double-decker coach driver carrying 84 people dozed off. In 2015, a suburban Detroit bus driver plowed into eight vehicles after falling asleep while driving.
