Linda Plamondon’s 20-year-old son David was killed when he was crossing a University of Connecticut campus roadway and was struck by a campus transit bus in 2011. Now, Plamondon is calling for reform of the university’s transit system, including who they hire. The campus transit system currently employs students to operate the bus routes transporting students around the campus, and Plamondon would like to see that changed. Plamondon feels that students may not have the appropriate amount of experience and training necessary to ensure safe bus operation, and has cited that as students, their attention is not focused on driving safely in the way that a professional bus operator’s would be.
However, University of Connecticut bus drivers disagree, citing that the training regimen that new drivers must go through before being hired is extremely rigorous and that all drivers must pass tests showing their understanding of the university transit system’s safety protocols before getting behind the wheel.
Another change Plamondon would like to see instituted is the installation of driver cameras in each university transit bus, so that in the event of a collision or other road traffic incident, the actions of the drivers immediately prior to the incident could be reviewed. The idea behind this is that if drivers were distracted or behaving inappropriately in some way, it would be visually recorded for later review during investigation. Many public transit buses across the globe have installed such cameras and have found them effective in reducing bus collision incidents.
Following the death of David Plamondon, the University of Connecticut transit system installed auditory turn warning systems in all on-campus transit buses. The buses with the system installed make an alarm sound when turning a corner. This system is set up to warn pedestrians of a bus making a turn in their direction, and is particularly useful for both drivers and pedestrians in cases where turns are blind on both sides.
It remains to be seen whether the installation of driver cameras aboard University of Connecticut campus transit buses will go forward. Meanwhile, Linda Plamondon will continue to fight for change to the transit system she feels was responsible for the untimely death of her son.