The Region : RTD Driver Rehired After Drug Appeal

The RTD has rehired a driver who was fired after testing positive for marijuana use after a crash with another transit bus that injured 27 passengers. Clarence Gayle Brown Jr., whose bus rammed the back of another RTD bus on Ventura Boulevard last spring, successfully appealed his dismissal and has been placed in the RTD’s drug rehabilitation program. Brown, who was cited for speeding after the accident, underwent a urine test in accord with Southern California Rapid Transit District policy of testing drivers who are involved in traffic accidents. A spokesman for the RTD said Brown was reinstated because the presence of marijuana in a driver’s body, unlike cocaine and other hard drugs, does not mandate an automatic dismissal under RTD drug policy. In recent months the RTD has been plagued by a rash of accidents that have injured at least 137 people. In at least four of those incidents, the drivers were believed to be under the influence of drugs or tested positive for drugs.