Those of you who’ve been closely following the e-book scene for years now will probably remember a certain YouTube video that went semi-viral two years ago, and which I’ve embedded below; it was titled, “Oregon Bus Driver Caught Reading Kindle While Driving.” That title pretty much says it all, no?
I only discovered this video myself a few weeks ago, and frankly, I still can’t decide if the story is hilarious or horrifying. A little of both, I suppose. For those of you who didn’t see the video when it was originally making the Internet rounds back in September 2010, the controversy at the time had to do with whether or not the bus driver actually was reading his Kindle while driving through rush-hour traffic on the interstate. The driver and his union rep both maintained that the Kindle was simply resting on the dashboard of the bus.
The minute-long cell phone video was shot by a passenger, and if you watch closely, there’s one point during which the driver clearly clicks a page-turning button on the Kindle.
Apparently a spoof-video of the incident (suggesting the driver was reading a “romantic novella,” according to the Guardian) quickly made its way onto YouTube and went viral itself, although it’s now long-gone. (I don’t suppose any of our readers would have a copy they’d be willing to share?)
In the end, the driver was fired. Here’s the semi-infamous video:
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After finding the Kindle-reading bus driver video, I spent a good hour looking for similar videos or stories online. I figured the Oregon driver couldn’t have been the only Kindle-reading motorist caught on film. In the end, I only found one … but it’s beyond hilarious. Seriously: Don’t click over to YouTube until you’ve seen it, because the video’s title totally gives away the punchline. I’ll just say that the driver captured on video in this one gives an entirely new meaning to the word “multitasking.”
