August 15, 2013
SINGAPORE (AFP) - A Singapore bus driver has been fired after he was caught on video trimming his nails while driving along an expressway.
The 29-second video, posted on the Facebook page "SG Share" on July 26, showed the driver resting his left hand on the steering wheel while trimming the nails with a clipper held in his right hand.
He then momentary lifts his left hand from the steering wheel to examine the trimmed fingernails.
The page administrators wrote that the footage had been captured a day earlier on board a bus travelling from Singapore's Changi Airport to the city-state's northern suburbs.
It is not clear how fast the man was driving at the time. The maximum speed limit on expressways is 90 kilometres per hour (55.9 miles per hour).
"We have investigated the incident and have taken appropriate disciplinary action against the Bus Captain. He was dismissed immediately," a spokesman for state-linked transport operator SMRT told AFP.
"We would like to stress that passenger safety is our priority, and our Bus Captains are constantly reminded and encouraged to observe safe driving habits while on the roads," he said.
He declined to identify the driver.
SMRT, which also operates train and taxi services and is one of the two main public transport operators in the city-state, employs Singaporeans, Malaysians and mainland Chinese nationals as bus drivers.
In January, it fired a bus driver after he was caught on camera watching an animated film on his iPad while driving.
A total of 171 mainland Chinese bus drivers from SMRT went on strike last year over grievances about their work and living conditions.
Twenty-nine of them were deported days after the strike, while five others served jail sentences for their role in organising the sit-in, which was declared illegal by the government.
