School bus driver refused to drop my daughter home

Or could be 13y, possibly could have been 12 just 3 weeks ago - we don’t know and it is irrelevant.

She was left on a 60mph country road in the dark - no suitable pavements to walk on. Doesn’t mean that she is familiar with the roads on foot - it actually reads that is very unlikely to have ever been able to walk the route. Someone said she may have been using this route for 3 years - again, we don’t know, it may have also been for only 3 weeks, either way it is also irrelevant.

The PP who thinks that she and her DCs are amazing for putting up with shit service is missing the point. It is a normal reaction to be upset or stressed if dropped off unexpectedly in the dark, in a possibly unfamiliar place, several miles from home. Even more so if this is the first time it has happened, as it seems to be from OP’s messages. If it were to happen again, it maybe that she will be less teary having been through it before.

I have read the full thread and your updates. The arguments that the driver may have run out of hours are not robust. Just like in most walks of life, you build in a contingency plan for delays. If for example you were due to catch a pre-booked train at 10:00, you would not arrange to board the train at 9:59. Traffic delays are a fact of life.

Please let us know how you get on.

She's year 9. Not age 9. 14 years old.

I would be incredibly unhappy about this. Safeguarding is non existent here. What if you didn't drive what would she have done. I would go to g9vernors if school don't sort this. Disgusting

If the traffic is bad it is less likely that parents will be in a position to be somewhere else unexpectedly... Because they're probably caught in that same traffic and can't magic themselves 15 minutes further for the time they were hoping to be at home.. assuming they're definitely home which is less crucial with a Y9 than primary age. Wouldn't be impressed.

When people don't bother to read and understand the original post. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
"The bus stop she was dropped at is a clear run to our home as it’s the back roads and there was no traffic on them." Doesn't quite sound like Sloane Square to Victoria. And it was a dedicated school trip.

If the "late" bus was catching up with the "normal" bus, the sensible thing would have been for them to combine and sit the remaining stops surely.

So I got her age wrong, it's still a safe guarding issue. Who in their right mind would leave a child in The dark expecting them to make their own way home. What if she didn't have her phone

Drivers get held up in traffic, or by an unexpected incident such as a breakdown or a passenger falling ill etc. A bus driver could lose their licence and income if they drive beyond their legal hours. It's not a fabricated excuse.

just because she goes past somewhere whilst sitting on a bus, doesn't mean she is familiar with it... doesn't mean she knows the surrounding area, or how to get home from there on foot.

Which is why I said there should be a contingency plan…

No, shes Year 9, so at least 13. She had spoken to her mother and knew mum was on the way. She wasn’t left somewhere ‘unfamiliar’. She was on a bus route that shes presumably taken every day for 3 years.
All that being said, unless theres a backstory, it was a pretty shitty thing for the driver to do.

Well he can raise any of these hypothetical personal factors for not doing his job properly during his disciplinary hearing.

That’s for him, but it’s not relevant to OP or her daughter. Why should she contort her experience of a rude aggressive man to imagine circumstances where he is a more sympathetic figure.

Why isn’t the adult male expected to have more resilience & actually carry out his job duties instead of giving up because of traffic, hardly unusual if driving is your chosen occupation? And why can’t he take the valid criticism from OP instead of getting defensive about his actions?

But if there is am accident and it causes an unusual and excessive delay, (and given the early bus only just beat the late bus it sounds like the traffic was very unusual) that is not predictable. The tachograph records driving hours and if the driver goes over he can be prosecuted, fined and receive points.I very much doubt the contractor has 2 extra drivers just sitting about on the off-chance they mat be needed.
The kid is 13/ 14 and had called t heir parents.I really think a little more resilience should be expected of this age group

Just a reminder that there are zero valid counter arguments. Child safety trumps all.

Was this at Victoria? I’m in London and this exact thing happened to us. Bus c1 from Westfield to Victoria train station and the driver announced at Sloane Square that there was traffic and he wasn’t going to make it to Victoria. Dropped us off just after Sloane Square, the heavens open and I and my mum and presumably others got absolutely pelted by rain. Furious at the driver. Hope your daughter’s okay. This was just around 6 so hopefully not the same time as it’ll be too late for her.

Definitely take it up with the school. Leaving your DD over 2 hours walk from home is unacceptable.

This is shocking. You are paying for a service and you are not getting it. He is paid to drop your child near her home not leave her 2 hours walk away. You put her on this bus for a reason and it's no use to you if the driver doesn't feel like carrying out his job, shit happens traffic happens he needs to fulfill what he is getting paid for. speak to the school or whoever runs the bus. I can't believe some people on here would be happy letting their child walk that distance alone on a secluded road, the world has truly gone mad !

@Theherringbones I've got quite wound up answering stupid posts on your thread because I absolutely know what I am talking about and they really got my goat.

I hope that you contact the body that contracts the bus operators tomorrow morning and demand some answers. I don't care what anyone here has said to you, it is not acceptable, and it must not happen again!

I have a friend who many years ago said that the internet was ruined when the masses got full access.

I'm inclined to believe she was correct.

And autism notwithstanding, the contractor is obliged to drop the child off at the agreed location.

That exacerbates the whole situation! We don't expect our drivers to be rude to parents!

Please tell us what the school/bus company says tomorrow, OP!

That's awful. I hadn't heard of what happened to the poor boy. How irresponsible.