🚀 go-pugleaf

On Wed, 08 Jul 1998 22:36:37 -0700, Richard Berkeley <bummer@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
>
>And why do Greyhound buses go around 80?  Very few have crashed.  Why so few?  Because
>the drivers are well-trained and know the weight and capabilities of their vehicles.  I

Grayline, on the other hand...

Owner of bus companies
 to pay $207,000 in fines



 By J. Harry Jones 
 STAFF WRITER 

 July 7, 1998 


 The owner of two San Diego bus
 companies has agreed to pay $207,000 in
 fines and penalties as part of an
 out-of-court settlement stemming from
 a two-year investigation into his
 businesses' practices.

 While not admitting guilt, James C.
 Ruane, the owner of Goodall's Charter
 Bus Service of San Diego and Gray Line
 Tours of San Diego, has paid the fines
 and agreed to a type of probation,
 officials say. Should any of the
 infractions be repeated, he could be
 subject to a $2,500 fine for each
 violation.

 "The CHP presented an array of charges,
 but there was never any proof of
 misconduct," Ruane said yesterday. "We
 agreed to a settlement with no proof and
 in no way admitted any wrongdoing."

 At the time the investigation began,
 Goodall's-Gray operated about 55
 charter and school buses, authorities
 said, including express buses that run
 between North and East County and
 downtown San Diego each business day.

 The companies also leased 19 school
 buses to the San Diego Unified School
 District and others to the Brawley
 School District in Imperial County.

 It is unclear how many busses are in the
 companies' fleets now, but officials think
 the numbers are roughly the same.

 California Highway Patrol investigator
 Bob Petrachek said the investigation
 began more than two years ago when
 some of Ruane's employees as well as
 rival bus company workers came to
 investigators with tales of wrongdoing.

 "Other bus companies were snitching
 them off," Petrachek said. "I started
 looking at the case, and it was like
 pouring a glass of water on the table and
 trying to contain it."

 In early 1996, the two bus company
 offices in San Diego and El Centro were
 raided by the CHP and evidence,
 including business records, drivers' logs,
 payroll documents and 11 computers,
 was seized.

 The case was given to prosecutors in
 early 1997. They decided to pursue
 Ruane through the civil courts on
 allegations of unfair business practices.

 The settlement was reached recently.

 Petrachek said the investigation showed
 "serious violations in several areas." He
 said that:

  Inspections and maintenance of buses,
 including school buses and tour buses
 used to transport students, were
 deficient or unsatisfactory. Pre-trip
 safety inspections were often not
 conducted on school buses and, when
 they were conducted, many drivers
 complained that the problems they did
 note on their logs were ignored by
 management.

  Log books required by drivers were
 falsified, giving the appearance that a
 driver was working within the amount of
 hours legally allowed when the driver had
 exceeded the limit by many hours. On a
 few occasions, drivers with suspended
 licenses were driving school and charter
 buses with the full knowledge of the
 company management. Others were
 assigned to drive buses out of their
 classification or license ratings.

  License plates and registration tabs
 were switched among buses as needed to
 provide the appearance that they were
 currently registered when many had been
 expired for two or more years. Buses
 were used commercially with titles and
 registration from a fictitious business in
 Oregon, where registration and taxes are
 much lower than California. In numerous
 cases, two or more charter customers
 were paying for full use of the same bus
 at the same time.

  Records of training for school bus
 drivers employed by Goodall's were
 falsified or grossly inaccurate.



 Copyright 1998 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. 

<sarcasm> And of course, Greyhound makes so much money they never would stoop 
to such practices </sarcasm>.

>have had two Troopers (well, three if you counted in the Opel Monterey) and still will
>buy another Trooper.
>
>And if you're on the left lane going 10-15 over, you're breaking the California law.  If
>nobody's around you, the "slowest" vehicle applies to you - faster or slower, doesn't

Please give a cite for this.

>matter.  However, if you're on the right, there's no way in hell I'd flash at you.  You
>ever hear of "lane discipline" or are you one of these typical American drivers who know
>squat about driving etiquette?  No wonder Americans are the laughingstock when it comes
>to driving.
>
>Richard
>


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