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Fired: bus driver apparently reading while driving

The Columbian
Published: September 23, 2010, 12:00am

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland-area transit agency says it has fired a bus driver who was videotaped while apparently reading an electronic book as he drove along Interstate 5.

TriMet’s Mary Fetsch said Wednesday that 40-year-old Lahcen Qouchbane (La-SHAWN KOOSH-bane) was terminated for “posing an immediate threat to public safety” and violating policy. He was hired in 2000.

No word on whether the driver plans to appeal. His lawyer, Jonah Paisner, earlier told KGW-TV the driver wasn’t reading the device. The TriMet spokeswoman says the agency believes he was.

After a passenger’s cell phone video captured the Sept. 16 scene, TriMet pulled the driver from his route and placed him on leave. Fetsch said the agency had received several complaints about the driver before this incident.

The Oregonian says the man was fired in 2006 for pushing a passenger but an arbitrator reinstated him, with a 30-day suspension.

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Information from The Oregonian, KGW-TV

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