Channel 9 discovered more than 2,500 driving incidents in the past three years involving city employees driving city vehicles. The damage and repairs have cost taxpayers millions.

Six people were rushed to a hospital after a recent CATS bus crash on Central Avenue.

There have been hundreds of wrecks just like that one in the past few years involving city-owned vehicles. Those crashes have cost Charlotte taxpayers more than $5 million.

A CATS bus driver smashed into the back of Greta Hatley's pickup last year. It was that bus driver's third at-fault crash in less than a year.

“Now that I found out about this, yeah, I'd like to know what CATS is going to do about a driver like that,” Hatley said.

Forty-five city workers have been involved in four or more incidents over the past three years. Those drivers alone are responsible for almost a quarter of a million dollars in damages.

“We do have accidents from time to time,” said Dan Pliszka, the director of Charlotte Risk Management. “We have some serious ones from time to time.”

He said city workers were not at fault in most of those wrecks, and when the employee is responsible, he or she can face suspension or termination. Pliszka pointed out the city owns more than 3,000 vehicles.

“We drive almost 50 million miles a year -- 50 million,” he said. “That's a lot of miles that we're putting on.”

CMPD provides 72 hours of driver training for cadets, almost double what's required by state law.

CATS bus drivers are periodically retrained on simulators.

After a crash, safety managers can recreate the incident for practice.

“We want safe drivers,” said CATS safety coordinator James Burrell. “We want our customers to be safe.”

Police, fire, CATS and waste services all saw a reduction in crashes last year.

The city also owns a 16-acre training facility in south Charlotte, where drivers from every city department go through training exercises.

But some drivers who have been involved in numerous crashes say they've never stepped foot onto the training facility.

Courtney Caldwell was responsible for three wrecks as a Charlotte garbage truck driver. He was fired two weeks ago. Caldwell said he was twice suspended without pay but never received additional training.

“Once you do your suspension, that's the penalty that you're hit with, and you come back, and you're right back in the truck,” Caldwell said.

The city wouldn’t comment about his claims.

Hatley said she's worried that the bus driver who hit her didn't get further training. She said the city's settlement fixed her truck but didn't give her peace of mind.

Eyewitness News has filed an open records request with the city of Charlotte to learn details about the disciplinary actions taken against employees with lengthy histories of driving incidents. The city said it's gathering the records and will get back to us next week.

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