By JENNIFER JORDAN PIX News At Ten

July 26, 2009
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
In an effort to prevent tragedy here in New York, Senator Charles Schumer unveiled a new bill that would ban bus drivers and train conductors from using all electronic devices while inside any public or private transportation vehicle.

"When a commuter steps onto a train or bus he or she should not have to worry about getting into an accident because the person responsible for their safety is busy texting their friend." Senator Schumer said at press conference on Sunday.

Recent mass transit accidents have prompted the new legislation.

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause for last month's rail accident in Washington D.C where 9 people were killed and just last year, 25 people died in a commuter train collision in Los Angeles, making it one of the worst accidents in U.S. History. Then a few months later, a conductor ran a red light in Boston and crashed into another train, injuring 50 commuters.

In both cases, the conductors admitted to texting while driving.

"There's hands free methods for cell phones, so why would they think texting is fine." said Parsa Ludhi, a frequent bus rider.

"You can't drive and text...you may hit somebody." said MTA bus driver Saban Cotto, who is behind the proposed plan. When asked by Pix News if his colleagues would agree, his response was "They should...we're not supposed to."

Schumer's proposal would add to existing rules set up by some states and local transit lines.