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Rome bus driver suspended for watching film at the wheel

ATAC slams conduct of bus driver.

Rome's public transport company ATAC has suspended a driver without pay after he was filmed by a passenger watching a movie at the wheel on Monday morning.

The company said it acted immediately, after learning of the incident via social media, stopping the driver before he finished his shift on the 32 bus line between Saxa Rubra and Piazza Risorgimento near the Vatican.

Ugo Quinzi, the passenger on the bus who filmed the driver, documented the episode on Twitter.

"On buses in Rome it is increasingly common to observe that the driver's cabin is shielded from prying eyes. In this way neither the driver's face nor the vehicle number can be seen" - Quinzi wrote - "A useful device to avoid recognition in certain cases."

In a statement slamming the driver's conduct as "unspeakable", ATAC said: "Incidents like this damage the entire company, with the risk that the correct behaviour of most of the 11,000 employees will be tarnished by a few irresponsible people."

Last month ATAC suspended a driver for watching a football match as he drove through Rome, with passengers claiming he slammed on the brakes at crucial points in the game.

In contrast to the bad press generated by these news stories, however, another ATAC driver received widespread praise recently for her efforts to rescue a boy on board her bus from being bullied.

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