Eideard

A bus driver in Rome who was caught using two cellphones and steering with his elbows while driving has been suspended, according to a local official.

Video of the driver talking on one phone and trying to configure his e-mail on another while taking passengers to Rome’s Ciampino Airport was posted online by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Wednesday.

Using even one cellphone while driving is against the law in Italy…

On Thursday, La Repubblica reported that a regional transport commissioner, Francesco Lollobrigida, said that the driver had been “suspended pending disciplinary proceedings.” Mr. Lollobrigida added that the action was “necessary to protect passengers and also the image of the many public transport workers who have impeccable behavior and who are the majority in this region…”

If the driver does lose his job, he might consider a move to Nevada in the near future. As my colleague John Markoff reported this week, Google, a pioneer of self-driving cars, “is quietly lobbying for legislation that would make Nevada the first state where they could be legally operated on public roads. And yes, the proposed legislation would include an exemption from the ban on distracted driving to allow occupants to send text messages while sitting behind the wheel.”

Har!

The TTC bus driver was texting on a BlackBerry-like device while driving around 50 km/h when passenger Mike Schmitz took an iPhone photo of him.

The shot, taken on a 165 Weston Rd. North bus that was “full of people”, shows the driver focused on the device, and the orange needle of the bus speedometer pointing upwards…

The driver would alternate between holding the device with both hands and steering with his forearms, and driving with one hand while holding the device with the other and texting with his thumb, he said.

“This is incredibly serious,” said TTC spokesman Brad Ross, who got a glimpse of the photo on Thursday. “It would appear … that he’s doing at least 50 km/h while texting, and his eyes are not on the road.”

The TTC has “a clear policy” when it comes to prohibiting its drivers from using personal electronic devices — such as cellphones, BlackBerrys and iPhones — while on the job, Ross said. “This is a serious breach of public safety,” he said, adding that drivers are not allowed to talk on cellphones or text even while the vehicle is stopped…

As of Oct. 26, 2009, Ontario drivers have been banned from talking on cellphones, texting or using hand-held electronic devices of any kind while behind the wheel.

A bit more than an oops! No one needs to see bus drivers volunteering for a Darwin Award.

During an open book exam on agent guidelines covering domestic investigations, “a significant number of FBI employees engaged in some form of cheating or improper conduct,” a Justice Department report has found.

The Office of Inspector General found agents and analysts broke rules by consulting with others about the exam, using and sharing answer sheets and in some instances even using a computer system flaw to reveal the correct answers to questions.

The test was open book, but FBI employees were required to take it on their own and the last question specifically asked each test-taker to certify he or she did not consult other people in arriving at answers.

In some instances, FBI officials became suspicious when employees finished the exam in less than 20 minutes when most employees needed an hour and a half or more…

The report did not give names of employees who are alleged to have cheated, but it said among those are several top level officials at the Washington field office including the assistant director in charge there. The assistant director at the time was Joseph Persichini, who retired before the investigation and disciplinary decisions were finalized.

According to the report, three other top officials in the Washington office acted improperly, including the legal adviser…

The test was only about civil liberties and whether or not agents understood that freedoms, privacy and other rights should not be violated.

Nothing important.

A German man mooning at railway staff in a departing train got his trousers caught in a carriage door and ended up being dragged half naked along the platform, out of the station and onto the tracks.

The 22-year-old journalism student shoved his backside against the window of a low-slung double-decker train when staff forced him off in Lauenbrueck for traveling without a ticket, a spokesman for police in the northern city of Bremen said…

Instead, dangling by his trousers, the man got pulled along for about 200 meters, all the while managing to keep his legs away from the wheels of the train.

The ordeal ended when a passenger pulled the emergency brake. Rescues services were called in, causing rail services between Bremen and Hamburg to be suspended for over an hour, delaying 23 trains.

The man — unharmed except for cuts and bruises — now faces charges of dangerous interference in rail transport, insulting the train staff, and may face sizeable a compensation claim for the delays he caused, police said.

Halfway to qualifying for a Darwin Award.

Duh!

Police say a Mesa, Ariz., man allegedly carrying burglary tools claimed he broke into a home because he needed to charge his cell phone. Scott Boe, 24, was charged with one count of second-degree burglary and one count of possession of burglary tools.

Boe was apprehended Friday by the homeowner, who also is a detention officer, who noted Boe allegedly admitted he did not have permission to be in the home but said he needed a power outlet to recharge his cell phone.

Boe’s backpack, found in the home, allegedly contained several knives, a large pry bar and other tools routinely used by burglars, police told the Arizona Republic.

I’d be really tempted just to shoot someone I found in my home uninvited. Though – given the vagaries of life under the Patriot Act – I worry about accidentally shooting a government operative.

Instead of a professional crook.