Anyone who regularly rides buses in Jerusalem knows the feeling. Sometimes it is a sudden brake that sends passengers lurching forward, sometimes an aggressive acceleration, and sometimes an entire journey turns into a test of nerves. Complaints from passengers about the driving style of many bus drivers in the city, including speed, abrupt stops and an overall sense of insecurity, are heard again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, one case cannot be used to judge all public transport drivers in Jerusalem. Many work under difficult conditions, navigating traffic jams, roadworks, congestion and demanding schedules. But the case uncovered this week gives the unease felt by some passengers a particularly disturbing dimension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a proactive operation by detectives from the Jerusalem District Traffic Enforcement Unit together with officers from the Oz police station, a public bus driver was stopped for inspection on Monday, August 17. The driver, a 26-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, was suspected of driving under the influence of a substance suspected to be a drug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The test conducted on the driver returned a positive result for cocaine and cannabis, and he was detained for questioning at the police station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jerusalem District Police stated: \u201cIsrael Police detained a public bus driver in Jerusalem on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs. A test conducted on the driver returned a positive result for the use of dangerous drugs, namely cocaine and cannabis, and he was detained for questioning at the police station. Following a hearing conducted by a police officer at the Oz station, it was decided to suspend his driving licence for 30 days and take the bus out of service for a period of 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the person behind the wheel is responsible for a large public bus carrying passengers through some of Jerusalem\u2019s busiest and most complicated streets, such a finding is difficult to dismiss as just another traffic offence. For passengers, the person sitting in the driver\u2019s seat is responsible for their safety throughout the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incident touches a nerve that already exists among many passengers. Anyone standing inside a crowded bus, holding a child\u2019s hand or simply trying to stay on their feet feels every hard brake, sudden acceleration and fast turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That does not mean every passenger complaint points to dangerous driving, and there is certainly no basis for linking problematic driving in general with drug use. But when a public bus driver in Jerusalem is stopped and tests positive for cocaine and cannabis, it is easy to understand why passengers demand greater supervision, greater responsibility and, above all, a journey in which they do not have to fear the person behind the wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The driver\u2019s licence was suspended for 30 days, and the bus he had been driving was also taken out of service for 30 days. For the police, it is an enforcement case. For Jerusalem passengers, it is another reminder of just how much their daily journey depends on the person sitting at the front.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Anyone who regularly rides buses in Jerusalem knows the feeling. Sometimes it is a sudden brake that sends passengers lurching forward, sometimes an aggressive acceleration, and sometimes an entire journey turns into a test of nerves. Complaints from passengers about the driving style of many bus drivers in the city, including speed, abrupt stops and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":184404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"9319","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[10327,9319,10345,9314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-184406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-jerusalem-updates","category-law-crime","category-main-item"],"acf":{"subtitle":"Passengers in Jerusalem repeatedly complain about stressful bus rides. This week, a driver tested positive for cocaine and cannabis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}