Aug. 29--FORT LAUDERDALE -- The company responsible for managing the shuttles at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has put 19 of its drivers on administrative leave for violating new safety criteria.
The new set of standards has been in the works since February, after two shuttles collided killing two people and injuring eight others, said Kelly Smith, a spokeswoman for ShuttlePort. The plan, which included input from the county commission, was approved in June, though the drivers were not suspended until Tuesday.
It was only a coincidence that the suspensions were doled out days after another employee was suspended following a hit-and-run pedestrian death, Smith said.
Edner Accino, 70, who was visiting from Haiti, was killed Thursday in a restricted access road behind the airport's rental car center, according to authorities. Detectives are still investigating the incident and have not concluded whether a shuttle was involved. No charges have been filed.
ShuttlePort suspended driver Hugo Laloi, 48, whose vehicle showed signs of damage consistent with hitting a pedestrian, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. Laloi's driving record would have met the new standards, Smith said.
The 19 drivers suspended Tuesday have until Sept. 4 to provide proof there was an inaccuracy in their motor vehicle record. Otherwise the drivers may be fired or transferred, Smith said. ShuttlePort employs 149 drivers.
Under the new criteria, a driver is not allowed to have a driving conviction or more than one moving violation.
The goal was to have a system similar to the Broward County's transit, Smith said.
"It's not safer, unsafe, better or worse," she said. "It's just a different way of judging."
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