In San Francisco May End the Days of the Talking Tour Bus Driver: In a move that could have far-reaching consequences should other municipalities elsewhere in the U.S. embrace the idea, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has introduced legislation that would prohibit bus drivers from narrating tours while driving. Introduction of the proposed measure follows a fatal accident last October in which a motorized cable car tour bus struck and killed a female city employee who was crossing the street just outside City Hall in San Francisco, allegedly by a driver who was distracted.
Supervisor Norman Yee, who introduced the legislation, explained that driving a tour bus around San Francisco is more complex than driving a regular vehicle, which is why drivers of tour bus drivers need to concentrate on driving instead of narrating while driving, adding that distracted drivers poses a significant risk of injuries or death to motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists: “According to the California Traffic Safety Survey in 2013, 36 percent of Californians surveyed thought that talking while driving posed a the biggest safety problems on California roadways and nearly 70 percent of California drivers surveyed said they had been hit or nearly hit by a driver who was talking or texting.”
