Thursday, February 20, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Letters

CAT system problems merit closer scrutiny

The CAT bus system is an integral part of the Las Vegas community. Many of our citizens rely on CAT to get them to work and back home safely. Even more important than the bus system are the hard-working men and women who make it function safely every day. We assumed this is a priority for CAT as well. However, this assumption was proven wrong when CAT bus drivers Steve Mora, Ben Carter and Gene Smith went public with their concerns about CAT's substandard operational safety conditions. In December of 2001 a wheel came off a CAT bus while it was traveling down I-15. Without a doubt, this is something that would have inspired a million-dollar lawsuit had it been a casino shuttle. However, the incident pales in comparison to the tragedy that took place this year. On Jan. 28, Warren Sharer was hit and killed by a CAT bus. The driver said the brakes went out and he lost control of the vehicle. This is truly a sad story and whoever is responsible should be held accountable.

So what has CAT done in response to the outcries of its employees and the tragic and untimely death of Mr. Sharer? Well, it has done two things. First, it suspended the three drivers for voicing their concerns in a public arena about the various substandard safety conditions that permeate the CAT bus system. Second, it politely took back the bus that struck and killed Mr. Sharer. That's right, it wasn't impounded! Metro gave the bus back to CAT so it could "investigate" the cause of the accident. Does anyone else see the problem here? Would you condone Saddam Hussein investigating himself for human rights violations? Or perhaps we should have let Sandy Murphy oversee the forensic investigation in the Ted Binion murder investigation. This practice of letting CAT investigate its own culpability in a fatal bus accident is just as abhorrent as the policy decisions that created the unsafe conditions.

These institutions need to be kept honest and our elected officials are not doing their job to hold the system accountable. We are sorry for the workers who are getting trampled on in the name of upper-management job security. Even more so, we are sad for the family of Warren Sharer, who must now continue to live with the knowledge that CAT may be the culprit in the death of its beloved family member. We hope enough people read this and are inspired to take action. Please write and call Mayor Oscar Goodman, Sheriff Bill Young, CAT, RTC and your local councilmen and women to voice your concerns. If we hold our public officials accountable, they will, hopefully, investigate these parties impartially and justice will be served.

--Cynthia Agnello, Patrick Scales