Photo by * Chris D

Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 are encouraging their members who operate Metrobuses to do every single little thing by the book this week. The push comes in the wake of two recent incidents which saw bus drivers plow down pedestrians in the District. Unsuck DC Metro got the ball rolling on this story yesterday, and the Post’s Lena Sun later followed up with a story of her own.

WMATA’s bus drivers are rightly worried about being fired these days. With so many serious or fatal accidents piling up, the public outcry for higher personnel standards has forced Metro to put out regular press releases like this one, touting their continued safety training program. Three bus drivers have been fired in recent months: one for failing to follow standard procedures in the Sept. 3 accident which critically injured jogger Amanda Mahnke, another who was accused of kidnapping a passenger, and a third who was discovered to have a suspended license. Not to mention the new zero tolerance policy for cell phone use among on the job Metro operators, which some passengers have taken upon themselves to enforce.

But the flip side of this ATU move is that following every single standard operating procedure means Metrobus drivers are forced to slow down. Way down. They can’t go one mph faster than the speed limit, than can’t pass each other at bus stops, and they have to make sure all elderly or disabled passengers are seated before moving the bus. And given how much D.C. residents love to complain about poor service from Metro, this tactic on the part of bus drivers could quickly lead to petitions, letters to the editor, and, almost assuredly, a lively Friday Chat with General Manager John Catoe this week.

Regular bus riders will surely be annoyed when a trip that used to take eight minutes suddenly takes 18. But if making these changes is something more than a form of protest, if drivers really do become more careful which in turn leads to fewer fatal accidents, then shouldn’t we be ready to accept them as permanent?