To think Minibus driver should pay attention

[threerings]

Aibu in that my primary aged dc is on a school minibus everyday with the driver talking into a bluetooth earpiece constantly from the start of the journey til the end of the journey. Surely the attention span becomes less on the road and is a bit dangerous when transporting children.
Don,t know how to broach the subject with the school or direct with the driver. The children on the bus are told to be quiet as the driver is in full flow chat mode and can,t hear what is being said. I hate earpieces as they do cause lack of concentration and I,m concerned of the safety element whilst carrying children. Any advice please? And should the driver be doing this?

May well be worth bringing to the attention of his employers.

In this economic climate I'm sure their are many drivers prepared to drive sans phone conversation.:)

Cumfy I wouldn,t want the driver to be let go, is that what you mean? But I do think that common sense should be applied when driving children about.

I wouldn't give a chuff about his job when he is endangering children's lives like this.
That is so dangerous, I wouldn't let my dc's to travel on the minibus until this was sorted.
You need to ring the school and the bus company, before its too late.

Noisy kids are distracting too so it may balance out!!

He is talking on his hands free mobile phone for the entire journey?
This cannot be safe

WhateverTrevor yes I am along your lines of thinking in the fact that it is dangerous. The school own the minibus and employs the driver through the school. The children are complaining that they have to hear of the drivers whole adult conversation all the time and they are told to be quiet so the driver can have a chat. I don,t think that its fair they cannot speak at all on the journey home at a low level they are not being noisy as RedHelenB said because a code of conduct on how to behave on the bus has to be signed by all parents.
If they was an accident I don,t think the police would be of the view that this is acceptable.

Hands-free has been shown to be as distracting as handheld phone. Most employers take a dim view. As would the courts and insurers.

Report driver to the employer, and the school.

xp yes the driver is talking hands free for the entire journey. It has been noted by myself as the driver is still sometimes talking when the children arrive back and are getting off the bus.

You have to say something op!

My dc catch the school bus and there's no way I'd let them get on if I new the driver was doing that. Definitely not safe!

At my driver awareness course () we were told that hands free kits are just as dangerous as a handheld phone. So if there is an accident, the driver will still be prosecuted for not paying attention. This is because when you are driving with a passenger, and are talking, the passenger will automatically become aware of any hazards and go quiet so the driver can concentrate. On a phone, the other person doesn't know what the driver is doing or what is happening on the road.

I'd let the employers know OP, for the safety of the children. He sounds like Auto-Man from The Simpsons.

Its also highly inappropriate for primary aged school children to have to hear about the drivers planned weekend of getting drunk and going out with mates to nightclubs!!
If you are going out drinking on a sunday night you should not be driving the minibus on Monday and chatting away on your bluetooth. The more I write this down the more concerned I am becoming. Would you all be the same?

The school own the minibus and employs the driver through the school.

Surely the solution to this then is to let one or more of the teachers bus the children in ?

The teacher gets free transport to and from school, and is exactly where they want to be at route end.

Someone must be prepared to do this for £10-20 pw.

In fact, I really can't understand why they would opt for a non-teacher.