Matthew_T
"Young and Ex-whippet"
- Location
- Prestatyn, North Wales
A while ago (2 months), I caught my college bus driver driving on his mobile phone, whilst in control of a bus full of college students. There was another incident earlier in the year involving him as well. The report follows:
Date: 1/2/11 approx. 6.00pm
Location: En-route from Llandrillo College to Prestatyn Bus Station
Driver: Refused to give name or driver number
Incident:
Following an incident where the bus driver of one of the public transport buses stopped unexpectedly at a set of traffic lights me, Matthew Turner witnessed the whole event. The bus came to an abrupt stop which resulted in every passenger on the bus being jolted forwards. A number of people on the top floor of the vehicle fell forwards out of their seats as the jolt was not expected.
As on the top of every seat there is a metal hand rail, this resulted in numerous people hitting the seats in front of them. There was an incident at the back of the bus where a girl by the name of Molly Sparks was launched forward out of her seat and her head hit the hand rail in front of her. Another girl then went downstairs to notify the driver. The driver came up and immediately started shouting at this male who was sitting in the middle of the row at the back. The driver said, “He shouldn’t be sat in the middle”, which had no relation to the hurt girl.
Another girl on the bus then told the driver that he should be more worried about Molly than the boy and he shouldn’t have a bad attitude towards anyone on the bus.
The bus driver asked Molly if she needed an ambulance only once. He should have persisted that she gets one because of any possible concussions she might have and not know about.
The bus driver then returned to his cab and continued on the journey.
With a double-decker, you expect a certain amount of movement because of the road conditions, but this driver had no excuse for braking immediately like he did. He could have continued through the lights which would have prevented any type of incident.
Once I had consulted my mother on the phone about what had happened, we both agreed that I should get the bus drivers name and driver number. I then waited until the last stop at Ffrith Beach where I asked the driver for his name and number, and presented him with a piece of paper and a pen. The following is the conversation me and the bus driver had, all of the comments are direct quotes of what was said.
“Excuse me; can I have your name and driver number please?”
“Yes, but why?”
“Because of your reckless driving”
“It wasn’t reckless; I was braking for the lights”
“You were too close to the bus in front resulting in you not being able to see the lights properly”
“There was no bus in front”
“Yes there was and you could have easily continued through the lights because they were on amber”
“Well I was concentrating on the cameras because of the ****ing arse-holes who were standing up, and when I looked at the lights they were on red”
“So you admit that you weren’t concentrating properly on the road?”
“No I was concentrating on the people who were standing up”
“Can I have my paper and pen back?”
He then gave me back my paper and pen as I had not succeeded in getting his name or number. I then proceeded to exit the bus and walk home, when the bus driver called me back.
“Come back here”
“Yes?”
“I don’t care if you have your bus pass tomorrow; I am not going to let you on the bus so you’ll have to get the Ffrith bus or something”
“Well lets hope you’re not driving it then”
“I wouldn’t bet on it”
“So you’ve swore at me twice and now threatened me, goodbye”
What followed, I did not hear because he muttered something under his breath which mustn’t have been very polite. I then proceeded home in anger because of the attitude he had had towards me.
I was deeply hurt by the attitude that he had and what he said. After consulting my parents, they agreed with me that I should say something to college about what had happened.
I was always going to complain about the incident that happened approx. 5.17pm because the girl got hurt but I am also complaining about the drivers disgusting attitude towards the passengers of the bus.
The incident involving the phone was later on. I decided not to say anything to the driver as I remembered what happened last time. I reported it to the college and a week later the Transport Officer asked me to come to her office. She told me that the driver has been sacked from the bus company, and will not be allowed to work for the council any more. She said that using the phone is not tollerated as it is illegal and prevented him for being able to control the bus properly.
In all I was pleased with the help that I got from the college in both ocassions.
Date: 1/2/11 approx. 6.00pm
Location: En-route from Llandrillo College to Prestatyn Bus Station
Driver: Refused to give name or driver number
Incident:
Following an incident where the bus driver of one of the public transport buses stopped unexpectedly at a set of traffic lights me, Matthew Turner witnessed the whole event. The bus came to an abrupt stop which resulted in every passenger on the bus being jolted forwards. A number of people on the top floor of the vehicle fell forwards out of their seats as the jolt was not expected.
As on the top of every seat there is a metal hand rail, this resulted in numerous people hitting the seats in front of them. There was an incident at the back of the bus where a girl by the name of Molly Sparks was launched forward out of her seat and her head hit the hand rail in front of her. Another girl then went downstairs to notify the driver. The driver came up and immediately started shouting at this male who was sitting in the middle of the row at the back. The driver said, “He shouldn’t be sat in the middle”, which had no relation to the hurt girl.
Another girl on the bus then told the driver that he should be more worried about Molly than the boy and he shouldn’t have a bad attitude towards anyone on the bus.
The bus driver asked Molly if she needed an ambulance only once. He should have persisted that she gets one because of any possible concussions she might have and not know about.
The bus driver then returned to his cab and continued on the journey.
With a double-decker, you expect a certain amount of movement because of the road conditions, but this driver had no excuse for braking immediately like he did. He could have continued through the lights which would have prevented any type of incident.
Once I had consulted my mother on the phone about what had happened, we both agreed that I should get the bus drivers name and driver number. I then waited until the last stop at Ffrith Beach where I asked the driver for his name and number, and presented him with a piece of paper and a pen. The following is the conversation me and the bus driver had, all of the comments are direct quotes of what was said.
“Excuse me; can I have your name and driver number please?”
“Yes, but why?”
“Because of your reckless driving”
“It wasn’t reckless; I was braking for the lights”
“You were too close to the bus in front resulting in you not being able to see the lights properly”
“There was no bus in front”
“Yes there was and you could have easily continued through the lights because they were on amber”
“Well I was concentrating on the cameras because of the ****ing arse-holes who were standing up, and when I looked at the lights they were on red”
“So you admit that you weren’t concentrating properly on the road?”
“No I was concentrating on the people who were standing up”
“Can I have my paper and pen back?”
He then gave me back my paper and pen as I had not succeeded in getting his name or number. I then proceeded to exit the bus and walk home, when the bus driver called me back.
“Come back here”
“Yes?”
“I don’t care if you have your bus pass tomorrow; I am not going to let you on the bus so you’ll have to get the Ffrith bus or something”
“Well lets hope you’re not driving it then”
“I wouldn’t bet on it”
“So you’ve swore at me twice and now threatened me, goodbye”
What followed, I did not hear because he muttered something under his breath which mustn’t have been very polite. I then proceeded home in anger because of the attitude he had had towards me.
I was deeply hurt by the attitude that he had and what he said. After consulting my parents, they agreed with me that I should say something to college about what had happened.
I was always going to complain about the incident that happened approx. 5.17pm because the girl got hurt but I am also complaining about the drivers disgusting attitude towards the passengers of the bus.
The incident involving the phone was later on. I decided not to say anything to the driver as I remembered what happened last time. I reported it to the college and a week later the Transport Officer asked me to come to her office. She told me that the driver has been sacked from the bus company, and will not be allowed to work for the council any more. She said that using the phone is not tollerated as it is illegal and prevented him for being able to control the bus properly.
In all I was pleased with the help that I got from the college in both ocassions.
