A coach driver who was snapped tackling a Sudoku puzzle while driving a school bus has lost his job. A 12-year-old pupil travelling on the bus service to school in Dorset captured the driver doing the puzzle using the camera on his mobile, later showing the picture to his mother who alerted the authorities.
The driver of the coach was transporting a group of school children and was stuck in moving traffic when he decided to take his puzzle book out. The driver was seen with this head down, pen in hand, with his concentration focused on the Sudoku puzzle rather than his driving. Once the school bus driver realised he’d been photographed, he put the book aside.
The school alerted the transport company to the complaint as soon as it was received from the mother of the youngster who caught the driver playing Sudoku rather than paying attention to the road. The coach transport hire company were said to be “horrified” when they received the complaint and have launched a full investigation, the driver in question was also sacked from his job with immediate effect.
Both the mother and the school say were satisfied with the swift manner in which the matter was dealt with, although the parent added she hadn’t intended to have the driver lose his job, but felt it was her duty to alert the authorities as the driver was putting the lives of the children he was transporting at risk.
An official inquiry is due to be launched into school bus services, Dorset’s children’s services chief has revealed, following a spate of mishaps involving in which the safety of the young passengers travelling onboard the services could have been put in jeopardy.
