Bus Driver Seen on Video Eating Burrito, With Both Hands Off the Wheel, Before Crash

Surveillance video shows the driver with both hands off the wheel before crash.

ByABC News
September 18, 2015, 11:50 AM

— -- Warnings about distracted driving do not just apply to cell phones. A newly released video of a New Mexico bus crash is highlighting the dangers of eating while driving.

An Albuquerque city bus crashed into a car on July 28, 2014, causing a chain-reaction of crashes involving three cars, authorities said. This month, a person in one of the cars hit filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming to have been injured during the crash.

The lawsuit claimed the bus driver was texting behind the wheel, according to local ABC Affiliate KOAT.

However, new video has surfaced showing the bus driver engaging in a different kind of distracted driving. The bus driver, identified by authorities as Jeremy Perea, was eating a burrito just moments before the crash, the video reveals.

“Our driver was disciplined for eating and drinking on the job, which is against our policy, and for causing the accident. And he has not been in an accident since that day,” ABQ RIDE Public Information Officer Rick De Reyes told ABC News.

The city of Albuquerque did not immediately respond to questions from ABC News regarding the lawsuit.

PHOTO: A bus driver is seen eating a burrito with both hands off the wheel just before the bus crashed, July 28, 2014 in Albuqueque, N.M.
A bus driver is seen eating a burrito with both hands off the wheel just before the bus crashed, July 28, 2014 in Albuqueque, N.M.