School bus driver refused to drop my daughter home

And again, there are zero counter arguments. There aren't two sides to everything. Child safety trumps everything.

Just ask the parents of Daniel Morcombe, slaughtered by a pedo aged 13 because the bus driver was in a hurry and chose not to stop.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/daniel-morcombe-murder-trial-woman-urged-bus-driver-to-stop-for-13yearold-20140219-330eu.html

YANBU. I’m concerned about the driver’s lack of responsibility for the children in his care tbh. The fact he thought it was acceptable to leave 13 year olds stranded so far away from home in the dark, in an area where they can’t safely walk home anyway is quite worrying. Complain to both the school and bus company.

I didn't dig, Google linked. More likely OP has distorted the information to avoid being identified and it is the same thing.

You think it's more likely that Op has entirely changed every detail of the situation other than "traffic", "bus", and "daughter" so that she can post it on MN (for what, drama?), than there being two instances of drivers behaving poorly due to traffic this week?

But regardless, there are always too sides, and a senior school child needs to be able to navigate situations without crying.

A child, senior school or not, should not be put in the position Op's DD was, particularly not when they are vulnerable.

Yes, everything is a learning moment, but being so dismissive of a likely autistic child's reaction to something stressful she hasn't experienced before, is deeply unpleasant.

Or.... That is not the OP....

I didn't dig, Google linked. More likely OP has distorted the information to avoid being identified and it is the same thing.

But regardless, there are always too sides, and a senior school child needs to be able to navigate situations without crying.

Did you bother to read the thread before digging through google for something you think is a "gotcha"?

If someone left my kid far from home by the side of the road in the dark I would fucking hunt him down.

OP has said that she didn't speak to the driver on the phone. So it must have been in person i.e she got to the bus stop before the bus drove away.

Yes quite possible, if the issue was related to driving hours (and the fact that the traffic conditions would mean a normal 15 minutes drive would take much longer than that). Bus drivers normally are in contact with their depot. He would have likely had good information about the state of the roads and times to travel between places.

We do not know that he was going to abandon them. That's something posters have made up. We actually do know that he didn't just drop them off and drive away because OP was able to go and talk to him. It's equally possible that he would wait until they were picked up or until a replacement bus/driver/taxi could be provided.

Right, so instead of driving the extra 15 mins to do the contracted trip to her home stop, you think he was intending to kick back and stop still at the unscheduled stop for an unpredictable length of time until everyone could make alternative arrangements in heavy traffic?

I thought the OP spoke to him via her daughter’s phone, not in-person, and the daughter was left at the bus stop with the assumption that she would be safe because other children were getting off there, too.

So totally true as well.

That there are no phone boxes is something people are completely blind to.

I’m pretty sure he actually hauls the bus himself, like a heroic wee pony. And he pays the parents, not the other way around, while the children get out little riding crops and make him go faster while taunting him with their tiny voices.

Brilliant 😆😆😆

This post sums up Mumsnet 😂

I think it's obviously unreasonable to have left her, and I hope you get some answers when you raise it.

This is clearly not the same scenario. And I’m not sure the comments section are exactly a damning indictment of that situation. Most sound like they’re written by troglodytes.

The OP's daughter was dropped off at a stop 15 minutes drive away from where she was supposed to be dropped off.
That is not a 5 minute walk

It’s clearly not the same story as the Romsey children were on their way to school and it wasn’t 7pm in the evening.

OP’s child wasn’t left in a town centre either but on a country road.

I wasn't talking about OP's concerns. I was talking about posters who were unable to read the OP and were making things up, in exactly the same way that you were. Everything I said has been actually posted on this thread by other people.

I’m pretty sure he actually hauls the bus himself, like a heroic wee pony. And he pays the parents, not the other way around, while the children get out little riding crops and make him go faster while taunting him with their tiny voices.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/24609113.romsey-school-bus-driver-abandoned-pupils-due-traffic/

Nothing is clear cut, the article sounds awful but the comments are different. 5 mins walk for senior school children isn't really an issue .

This might not be you but the circumstances are no doubt similar. Year 9 should be able to walk a short distance

We do not know that he was going to abandon them. That's something posters have made up. We actually do know that he didn't just drop them off and drive away because OP was able to go and talk to him. It's equally possible that he would wait until they were picked up or until a replacement bus/driver/taxi could be provided. That's clearly something OP needs to ascertain when she calls the bus company - what should happen in this situation.

Things happen that stop buses progressing as planned, all the time (round us at the moment, it's flooding and yes, we have school children left at places other than their usual stop). There should be a contingency plan in place. Maybe this is the contingency plan (ask children to call parents, if they cannot be picked up proceed to Plan B). Personally I'd find that a perfectly acceptable contingency plan.

What we do know is that OP's DD was safe. She was not "dumped" or "abandoned" anywhere. She was collected by a parent. I absolutely agree OP should follow up and work out what happened and what the plan is if the bus can't get to the assigned stop. But based on what she's posted, we do not know the driver did anything wrong.

The desperation to make this ok is extraordinary.

It wasn’t ok

I imagine he’ll be sacked. If he isn’t he’ll be on a written warning and the school will likely require that he is not assigned to any of their routes.

In trying to make OP's concerns sound unreasonable, you've artistically left out the basic fact the bus stop in question was 15 minutes' drive away from the stop at which the driver was paid to drop the child off. The driver effectively announced he wasn't going to fulfil his contract and it was up to other people to sort it out. How is that OK?

Suppose you paid a taxi to take you to a specific destination and, half way through the journey, he told you he was going to drop you 5 miles away, he wasn't going to refund you, but it was OK because you could phone a relative who might or might not be available to collect you and there might be other people around - how happy would you be?

What if op didn't have a car? What if the child was attacked on route home? The situation beggars belief. I would be livid and make a strong complaint.