If I had to drive a school bus full of kids, I'd be at four times the legal limit.

Eight if they were anything like I was when I rode a school bus.

I'm honestly surprised that more school bus drivers don't drink.
I bet it would make the ride to and from school a heck of a lot more interesting.

/maybe they're just not getting caught.

Who says drunks can't drive well? Betty Burden meets the burden of proof.

Any way you slice it, she got hammered in the afternoon before driving her school bus. Here's hoping she gets all three years.

I mean, I'm hardly one to take someone to task over drinking in the afternoon: you will often find me with a drink in hand on a weekend afternoon. However, I do this with the knowledge that I won't be counted on to drive a school bus that afternoon...

Mrs. Crabtree is not impressed.

She was probably weaving as she was trying to lower the zipper of one of the students.

OregonVet: Goimir: Wait for the blood test results, they're likely to be less spectacular, i.e., more realistic.

.2xx is likely alcohol still in the mouth, not outgassing from the lungs. Either that or she was stopped for doing 5mph in a 45. That's pretty hammered.

I've seen a .63 (taken by blood) on the road. Granted, not a bus driver.

What blood test? Seems to me she chose a breath test.

Let's see, bus drivers pick up kids in the morning and take them to school then wait all day to take them home. All that slack time can be taken up with much needed intake of alcohol. hmmmmmmm, I think I have the beginning of a great business plan.

They should be able to stay sober for the couple of hours (at most) it takes to do their shift.

In the morning, anyway. Sometimes you just need to start drinking by lunchtime or so. What do you want her to do, not show up for work?

jaimejaim: OregonVet: Goimir: Wait for the blood test results, they're likely to be less spectacular, i.e., more realistic.

.2xx is likely alcohol still in the mouth, not outgassing from the lungs. Either that or she was stopped for doing 5mph in a 45. That's pretty hammered.

I've seen a .63 (taken by blood) on the road. Granted, not a bus driver.

What blood test? Seems to me she chose a breath test.

Is the blood test true/false or multiple-choice?

Danger Avoid Death: jaimejaim: OregonVet: Goimir: Wait for the blood test results, they're likely to be less spectacular, i.e., more realistic.

.2xx is likely alcohol still in the mouth, not outgassing from the lungs. Either that or she was stopped for doing 5mph in a 45. That's pretty hammered.

I've seen a .63 (taken by blood) on the road. Granted, not a bus driver.

What blood test? Seems to me she chose a breath test.

Is the blood test true/false or multiple-choice?

None of the above.

Brick-House: Let's see, bus drivers pick up kids in the morning and take them to school then wait all day to take them home. All that slack time can be taken up with much needed intake of alcohol. hmmmmmmm, I think I have the beginning of a great business plan.

The Bus Barn: a discreet drinking establishment, now with earlier happy hour!

Crosshair: I remember riding the bus as a kid. I can't imagine anybody doing that job while sober.

Came here to say this.
I'd think most of them toss back a xanax and a shot just to refrain from kicking some ass.

Ha. I saw this yesterday on my way home from work. I thought it was odd seeing two unmarked cars pulling over a bus.

I think the time they have might be wrong. I was driving by at about 5:15 or so and saw the bus stopped.

FTFA: "Burden, who first started working for District 57 in 1991, registered a .230 blood-alcohol concentration level at the scene after police stopped the bus, prosecutors said."

She blew a .230?

Something's This calls for a do-over.

C'mon Betty, I KNOW you can blow better than THAT!

Chuck Wagon: Ha. I saw this yesterday on my way home from work. I thought it was odd seeing two unmarked cars pulling over a bus.

I think the time they have might be wrong. I was driving by at about 5:15 or so and saw the bus stopped.

Probably a different drunk bus driver

Farker T: FTFA: "Burden, who first started working for District 57 in 1991, registered a .230 blood-alcohol concentration level at the scene after police stopped the bus, prosecutors said."

She blew a .230?

Something's This calls for a do-over.

C'mon Betty, I KNOW you can blow better than THAT!

It was those damned Russian judges again.

cryinoutloud: Brick-House: Let's see, bus drivers pick up kids in the morning and take them to school then wait all day to take them home. All that slack time can be taken up with much needed intake of alcohol. hmmmmmmm, I think I have the beginning of a great business plan.

The Bus Barn: a discreet drinking establishment, now with earlier happy hour!

and if any of these drivers are reasonably hot -- I know, I know, that a very rare thing, BUT, if they are, then it's Bang Bus.

Breath test administered incorrectly.

Subject must be closely monitored to ensure no burp/vomit/hiccup for 15 mins before the test, otherwise stomach alcohol contaminates the breath sample and ruins the results.

I always had a fun time of drinking a couple of beers at lunchtime then going back to my job as a customer service representative for a mail order company. But my orders always went through!

One of Burden's co-workers smelled alcohol Tuesday afternoon on Burden's breath and told the district's director of transportation, prosecutors said. The director noticed Burden appeared sleepy around 2:30 p.m. and followed the bus, police added.

WHAT?!?

So the transportation director was informed that she smelled of alcohol and he determined that she looked "sleepy" immediately before her afternoon shift yet he didn't take any action until after she got a bus full of kids out on the road? Even if he was too much of a pussy to confront her about being drunk, he could have said, "Hey, you look really beat. Why don't I cover your afternoon run?" At least try to engage her in a bit of conversation and see how she responds. Even if she really was just really tired, that's not a good situation.

Brick-House:
and if any of these drivers are reasonably hot -- I know, I know, that a very rare thing, BUT, if they are, then it's Bang Bus.

Yeah, baby!!

TheWhoppah: Breath test administered incorrectly.

Subject must be closely monitored to ensure no burp/vomit/hiccup for 15 mins before the test, otherwise stomach alcohol contaminates the breath sample and ruins the results.

I just fart and drive away the testers.

jtown: One of Burden's co-workers smelled alcohol Tuesday afternoon on Burden's breath and told the district's director of transportation, prosecutors said. The director noticed Burden appeared sleepy around 2:30 p.m. and followed the bus, police added.

WHAT?!?

So the transportation director was informed that she smelled of alcohol and he determined that she looked "sleepy" immediately before her afternoon shift yet he didn't take any action until after she got a bus full of kids out on the road? Even if he was too much of a pussy to confront her about being drunk, he could have said, "Hey, you look really beat. Why don't I cover your afternoon run?" At least try to engage her in a bit of conversation and see how she responds. Even if she really was just really tired, that's not a good situation.

If she was drunk everyday, he probably did not really notice any difference.

A friend brought one of those handheld breath-alcohol analyzers to a party once. I drank 5 beers in an hour and registered a .12%. There was no way in hell that I could have driven safely - I was pretty hammered. I guess you have to be a pretty serious alcoholic to be able to drink past the .20% level and still be able to function.

I guess I'm a lightweight when it comes to beer. I can certainly smoke a lot of weed and still function just fine, but alcohol is another story.

jtown: One of Burden's co-workers smelled alcohol Tuesday afternoon on Burden's breath and told the district's director of transportation, prosecutors said. The director noticed Burden appeared sleepy around 2:30 p.m. and followed the bus, police added.

WHAT?!?


So the transportation director was informed that she smelled of alcohol and he determined that she looked "sleepy" immediately before her afternoon shift yet he didn't take any action until after she got a bus full of kids out on the road? Even if he was too much of a pussy to confront her about being drunk, he could have said, "Hey, you look really beat. Why don't I cover your afternoon run?" At least try to engage her in a bit of conversation and see how she responds. Even if she really was just really tired, that's not a good situation.

THIS

The supervisor deserves felony child endangerment charges. But thank goodness nobody smoked a joint over the weekend! Pot won't be legalized because we can't be as sure if someone is currently stoned as we can be that they are drunk.

OregonVet: Goimir: Wait for the blood test results, they're likely to be less spectacular, i.e., more realistic.

.2xx is likely alcohol still in the mouth, not outgassing from the lungs. Either that or she was stopped for doing 5mph in a 45. That's pretty hammered.

I've seen a .63 (taken by blood) on the road. Granted, not a bus driver.

that was my dad. tell him to come home!!!

NannyStatePark:
The supervisor deserves felony child endangerment charges. But thank goodness nobody smoked a joint over the weekend! Pot won't be legalized because we can't be as sure if someone is currently stoned as we can be that they are drunk.

I want to know when people are whacked out on pills. I don't care a bit, but I can't believe how many pills Americans are supposedly taking regularly. And where's mine?

came for betty burden comments/pics/obscure references

/leaving disappointed

most tests taken after the initial test will register even higher, because the alcohol has more time to get into the blood stream.

"bus full of kids" would be a good name for a band.

Dick's Knot: "bus full of kids" would be a good name for a band.

The opening act for the Drunken Busdrivers.

JTOWNOne of Burden's co-workers smelled alcohol Tuesday afternoon on Burden's breath and told the district's director of transportation, prosecutors said. The director noticed Burden appeared sleepy around 2:30 p.m. and followed the bus, police added.

WHAT?!?

So the transportation director was informed that she smelled of alcohol and he determined that she looked "sleepy" immediately before her afternoon shift yet he didn't take any action until after she got a bus full of kids out on the road? Even if he was too much of a pussy to confront her about being drunk, he could have said, "Hey, you look really beat. Why don't I cover your afternoon run?" At least try to engage her in a bit of conversation and see how she responds. Even if she really was just really tired, that's not a good situation.

THIS, THIS, AND MORE THIS!

jtown: One of Burden's co-workers smelled alcohol Tuesday afternoon on Burden's breath and told the district's director of transportation, prosecutors said. The director noticed Burden appeared sleepy around 2:30 p.m. and followed the bus, police added.

WHAT?!?

So the transportation director was informed that she smelled of alcohol and he determined that she looked "sleepy" immediately before her afternoon shift yet he didn't take any action until after she got a bus full of kids out on the road? Even if he was too much of a pussy to confront her about being drunk, he could have said, "Hey, you look really beat. Why don't I cover your afternoon run?" At least try to engage her in a bit of conversation and see how she responds. Even if she really was just really tired, that's not a good situation.

The CTA (new window) would probably just claim the transportation director was trying to take her job away and sue.

/ok don't shoot I am mostly kidding
//mostly

Sigh the CTA bus driver's union

/too much to drink already apparently

Unavailable for comment.

The kids don't wear seat belts on a bus and can probably text, too. If she's straight enough to pull over for the cops, she's straight enough to drop my kid off at some random point across town - God bless her.

A very part time job that takes up most of every day - wonder if it was scotch? I want to believe it was scotch.

What Sarah Palin would look like if she drank daily and drove a school bus for a living.

Crosshair: I remember riding the bus as a kid. I can't imagine anybody doing that job while sober.

Dexter's Next Victim: What Sarah Palin would look like if she drank daily and drove a school bus for a living.

I have to imagine Palin already drinks daily. It can be the only explanation.