Metro fires bus operator who struck jogger

WASHINGTON - A Metrobus operator involved in an accident that critically injured a jogger near Dupont Circle has been fired.

Metro fired 43-year-old Carla Proctor of Southeast on Monday.

Proctor was driving an empty Metrobus last month when she struck 30-year-old Amanda Mahnke, who was jogging in the crosswalk at Florida and Connecticut avenues in Northwest.

Mahnke was critically injured in the accident.

Metro says Proctor was dismissed for failing to follow standard operating procedures.

Milo Victoria, head of Metro's bus operations, tells WTOP Proctor did not do everything she could have to prevent the crash.

Proctor - who did not have drugs or alcohol in her system at the time of the accident - had just finished her first run of the morning and was headed east on Florida Avenue on her way back to the bus garage.

The Sept. 3 accident was Proctor's third accident in seven years as a Metrobus operator.

Her two previous accidents were classified as "minor-preventable" by Metro.

Proctor also has blemishes on her personal driving record, including driving an unregistered vehicle with Pennsylvania plates.

Metro General Manager John Catoe says Metro is now examining the driving records of all bus operators.

On Thursday, Metro Board members voted to extend Catoe's contract.

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