Deosha Smalls, a transit operator in Charleston, South Carolina is a true asset to the Transdev CARTA team.

Deosha was operating his regular route one day when he noticed that a passenger on the bus appeared to possibly be intoxicated. He carefully watched the passenger as he was exiting the bus and saw him fall back onto the bus but remained standing. Then, the passenger moved away from the bus but, obviously, wasn’t stable. Deosha made a conscious decision not to move his bus, as he was concerned the passenger may fall back into the unit.

He watched his mirror as the passenger not only fell back into the bus, but actually fell under the bus, in front of the rear wheels. Deosha quickly set the parking brake securing the vehicle, notified dispatch and had EMS called to assist the passenger. Deosha then exited the bus, retrieved the passenger from under the bus and helped him to safety on a nearby bench.

General Manager David Bonner commented, “had Operator Smalls not been paying attention to this passenger as he exited the bus, I feel sure he would have been run over and we would have had a fatality. Deosha has always been an excellent and conscientious employee, who obviously cares about his passengers. He is a very quiet and humble person with a great driving record.”