Fired: Bus driver apparently reading while driving

[September 23, 2010]  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 40-year-old Lahcen Qouchbane (La-SHAWN KOOSH-bane) was terminated for "posing an immediate threat to public safety" and violating policy.

No word on whether he plans to appeal. His lawyer, Jonah Paisner, earlier told KGW-TV the driver wasn't reading.

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 received several complaints about the driver before this incident.

The Oregonian says he was fired in 2006 for pushing a passenger. An arbitrator reinstated him.

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Information from The Oregonian, KGW-TV

[Associated Press]

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