Distracted Auckland bus driver seen watching phone while driving passengers

A bus driver has been caught on video repeatedly looking at her phone as she drives passengers on a busy Auckland road, with one passenger saying her actions risked lives.

The video, recorded during rush hour on Monday on a bus travelling through Auckland’s North Shore, shows the driver repeatedly looking at the phone, which she is connected to via an earpiece.

Auckland Transport and the bus operator are investigating the incident.

The driver looks away from the road over a dozen times in the 90-second video, even looking down at the phone and swiping it as the bus approaches a corner on Beach Rd in the East Coast Bays.

Whatever the distracted driver was watching was enough to see her glued to it as soon as the bus briefly stops to let passengers off, returning to her dangerous and illegal multitasking as the bus rejoins its route.

The driver was seen repeatedly looking at her phone.

The passenger who supplied the video to the Herald said the driver was clearly browsing videos and said she “didn’t seem to be in full control of the bus”.

“She could kill some people,” the passenger said, adding that the driver was often checking her phone throughout her 15-minute journey from Sunnynook to Murrays Bay.

A spokesperson for Auckland Transport told the Herald that they would be investigating and remind all their bus operators that mobile phones should not be used while driving.

“Using your mobile phone while driving is dangerous,” they added. “We want everyone to be safe on our roads and AT and our bus operators take this very seriously.”

A police spokesperson told the Herald they would be following up on the video with a view to issuing an infringement notice if an offence is determined to have been committed.

They said driving while distracted is one of the leading causes of road crashes and reminded Kiwis it’s illegal to read any type of message, browse the internet, play games or view videos while driving - and the penalty is a $150 fine and 20 demerit points.

“It’s just not worth it, and puts you and other road users at risk,” the spokesperson said.

“Drivers should not use their phone at all when driving – even when stopped at an intersection. If you need to, pull over and park before doing so.”

The driver joins a roll of dishonour of Auckland bus drivers caught by passengers without their eyes on the road.

In 2015, an Auckland bus driver filmed reading a newspaper while driving was pulled in by bosses furious at his “stupidity”.

The driver was caught on camera flicking through the paper on his early evening bus route by a passenger who filmed him on his smartphone.

The bus was moving as the driver read his newspaper, which was spread out over the steering wheel.

Ritchies Coachlines boss Andrew Ritchie called him a “complete idiot”.