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MBTA Fires Driver Involved In Trolley Crash

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May 14, 2009 5:45 pm US/Eastern

MBTA Fires Driver Involved In Trolley Crash

Read: Jon Keller's Blog

View: Images From The Scene
BOSTON (WBZ) ― The MBTA has fired the T driver who admitted he was texting when his Green Line trolley slammed into another car last week, MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said Thursday.

Aiden Quinn, 24, told police he rear-ended another train between the Government Center and Park Street T stops Friday night while texting his girlfriend.

Earlier this week, the National Transportation Safety Board said Quinn was refusing to meet with federal investigators.

Quinn has been charged in the crash that injured 49 people.

 Read: MBTA's discharge letter to Quinn.

Since the accident, the MBTA imposed a zero-tolerance policy for electronic device possession by on-duty transit workers, meaning T drivers cannot have any electronic devices on them while on duty.  The state already banned its transit operators from using cell phones.

Drivers caught talking or text-messaging on a cell phone will be fired immediately.

The first time a driver is caught possessing a cell phone on duty, there will be a 10-day suspension. If there is a second offense, the driver will be fired.

On Thursday, the Boston Carmen's Union filed a formal grievance demanding the ban be withdrawn. The demand came in a letter from John A. Clancy, recording secretary of Carmen's Union Local 589, hand-delivered to MBTA officials.
 
While echoing recent union expressions of support for a crackdown on the use of electronic devices that might be a "diversion" to drivers, the letter describes the new T policy as "unreasonable under the contract, unprecedented in the industry and profoundly unfair to our members, without sound reason."

Have you seen an MBTA driver using or carrying a cell phone on the job? If so, send us a picture.

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