I am shocked to read that a 44-year-old man, sitting behind the driver on TriMet bus No. 77, was beaten and neither the bus driver nor the dispatcher called 911, (“TriMet didn’t call 911 after passenger punched and spat at fellow rider, uttered slur,” March 14). A TriMet spokesperson responded that employees don’t call 911 unless there are serious visible injuries. But how can this quickly be determined? Gaping knife wounds? Bones sticking out of broken arms? Nose bleeds?
TriMet can do better than letting a beat-up, black-eyed, stunned passenger off the bus to call for help himself. Where was bus security? Away on the weekend? The police didn’t arrive within 90 minutes after the injured man called 911 himself; he finally decided to take another bus to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center to get treatment. This all seems completely unacceptable in an advanced society. Doesn’t anyone care?