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2018-10-08 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

India suspends bus driver for letting a monkey ‘drive’

[DAWN] BANGALORE: An Indian bus driver who let a monkey behind the wheel of his vehicle was suspended on Saturday after a video of the incident went viral, sparking outrage and humour.

The 36-year-old driver is seen smiling and patting the langur monkey as it sits atop the wheel of the moving bus in footage shot by a passenger.

"Driver M Prakash has been taken off duty for allowing the monkey to sit on the steering wheel and handle it," T. S. Latha, a spokesperson for the government’s road transport corporation in southern Karnataka state said.

"Passengers’ safety is paramount and the driver cannot risk it by allowing a monkey on the steering." The incident took place on Monday but authorities only learnt of it after the video was shared on social media, Latha added.

There were around 30 passengers on the bus at the time and none of them complained.

Local media reports say the langur boarded with a passenger and was at the wheel for almost ten minutes.

The bus was on its regular trip around Davangere, around 170 miles (270 kilometres) from regional capital Bangalore, when the incident took place.

"So sweet. Why suspend. He should have been warned not to repeat this," tweeted Parag Heda.

Another local quipped that the driver was in the wrong profession.

"Good that action is taken and he suspended, but clearly he is in wrong job. This man is a sensitive animal lover (see how langur trusts him) and could be an asset in wildlife related jobs," he said.

The state transport authority said an investigation was being conducted.

Posted by Fred 2018-10-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

Posted by Skidmark 2018-10-08 01:20|| 2018-10-08 01:20|| Front Page Top

#2 Looking at that video, one can see that the driver is firmly in control of the steering wheel with his right hand. The langur is merely sitting politely on the thing, not interfering at all.

Posted by trailing wife 2018-10-08 09:26|| 2018-10-08 09:26|| Front Page Top

#3 Heck, the monkey probably passed the driving test with better scores than most of the Indian drivers I've seen.

Posted by AlanC 2018-10-08 09:33|| 2018-10-08 09:33|| Front Page Top

#4 Monkey gets a universal drivers license and moves to the US to drive the DNC around.

Posted by Bugs Thud4877 2018-10-08 20:14|| 2018-10-08 20:14|| Front Page Top

#5 Wait till the monkey gets behind a keyboard.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2018-10-08 20:20|| 2018-10-08 20:20|| Front Page Top

#6 Hmm the monkey couldn't be any worse than the crowd of pale white whiners the Progs have typing for them now. Probably better even if he just hits random keys.

Posted by Bugs Thud4877 2018-10-08 21:19|| 2018-10-08 21:19|| Front Page Top

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