Detroit Releases Bus Surveillance Video of Two Horses Boarding: Driver Welcomed Them In; City Says Staff Will All Be Retrained
The City of Detroit, in Wayne County, Michigan, on November 12 released surveillance video from inside and outside a city bus that two horses were led aboard, and issued a statement on the incident. According to the Detroit Free Press, the 1-minute, 35-second clip shows the driver chuckling as he welcomed the two men and their horses onto the bus. The city said Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) officials have spoken to the driver, and that everyone in the department will receive training to make sure they are aware of the policies. The city said it does not typically comment on any disciplinary action.
In the footage, the driver can be heard saying, "If he can get in here, it is what it is," and asking, "Hey, you want me to let them in?" The driver says "service animal" a few times before a ramp is lowered from the front door. A passenger on the bus and the driver both smile and laugh as the owners lead their horses through one entrance and promptly exit through another. No other passengers can be seen, the front of the bus appeared empty, and there was one person at the stop before the riders boarded. After the horses got off, the driver says, "That's crazy," a passenger can be heard saying, "We good," and the bus rolls away, leaving the horses and their owners behind at the stop.
In its November 12 statement, the city said that while DDOT welcomes service animals when they meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, the horses were apparently brought on the bus for other reasons. Alexis Ware, deputy director of media relations for the mayor's office, said the city doesn't typically comment on any disciplinary action, but that DDOT officials spoke to the bus driver, adding that everyone in the department will receive training to make sure they're aware of the different policies.
"We recognize that the actions in the video were meant to draw awareness to a positive cause. And we also acknowledge that this presented safety concerns for other passengers on public transit and for the horses themselves," the statement said. It added: "This is an opportunity to retrain DDOT bus operators and to educate our Detroit residents on everything that we are doing to guarantee safe, timely and high-quality service through DDOT."
The incident took place on November 7 at Seven Mile Road and Strasburg Street in Detroit, where Facebook user Ellessia Drew filmed two people leading two saddled horses onto a DDOT bus and then out through the rear doors; the video went viral on social media. Jordan Williams, co-founder of Urban City Cowboys and one of the men in the video, previously told reporters he had spent the day giving kids horseback rides at a fundraiser and talked the driver into letting him walk the horses through for a video. Earlier this week, DDOT confirmed the video was real and said the stunt was inconsistent with DDOT policy and potentially created an unsafe and uncomfortable ride for passengers.
Source: Detroit Free Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：底特律交通局（DDOT）公交车资料图（Michael Barera摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons；非事发车辆画面），已预裁为精确16:9成品。/ A Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) bus in a file photo (by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; not the bus in the incident), pre-cropped to an exact 16:9 frame.
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