Ridin' Dirty: Detroit Bus Driver Suspended for Having Passenger on His Lap

DETROIT (WJBK) - A DDOT bus driver has been suspended for 30 days and could ultimately lose his job after cell phone video surfaced of a passenger sitting on his lap while he was operating the vehicle.

The video was shot by a rider on Sunday and shows a woman seated on top of driver Timothy Carpenter. The passenger who shot the video, upset by the lack of safety, showed the video to FOX 2. (Click the video player to see).

"We realize that this is about as bad as it gets," said DDOT spokesman Terrence King. "We're going through a lot of hard economic times. If you've got a good city job, you need to respect that good city job. Do the job that you get paid to do. If you don't, Mayor (Dave) Bing has made it very clear, you will lose that job."

Carpenter told DDOT officials that he and the woman had recently had some disagreements and they were trying to make up. He declined comment to FOX 2.

"He admitted he made a bad judgment call at that particular time," said ATU president Henry Gaffney.

Gaffney went on to tell FOX 2's Simon Shaykhet that Carpenter is a good driver who doesn't cause any trouble and that this was an isolated incident.

DDOT officials will review the case before making a decision on Carpenter's future with the company.

Ridin' Dirty: Bus Driver Suspended for Having Passenger on His Lap: MyFoxDETROIT.com