to not want to be held hostage by a bus driver?

[LeftMyRidingCropInTheMortuary]

On the bus this morning. Gridlocked with other buses by the time we get to city centre. We are about 3 feet from the bus stop and stuck. About 15 of us want off. We wait ten mins then I ask the driver to let me off. He refuses as he's not allowed to open doors btween stops. And tells me if I open door he will call police.

Surely he HAS to let me off if I insist otherwise he is holding me hostage? After all I'm a grown up and can choose what risks to take.

I'm sure bus driving doesn't appeal to those of a kidnapping bent. Well, not on a packed commuter route.

oh FFS scremersford, thank god you're here, I hope the police realise they are doing their job wrong when they caution a driver for stopping between stops.

I'm sure London bus drivers have much more leeway, I see people being allowed off in heavy traffic all the time.

Of course YABU. You got on the bus knowing that it only stops at the designated bus stops, you weren't at a bus stop but wanted to get off and then you got stroppy because the driver wouldn't let you because he is only allowed to let passengers off at the stop.

The rules are there for your safety and the safety of other road users.

Donthaveausername Screamers you weren't being held against your will. You were free to open the doors and leave at any time, you consciously chose not to leave.

I wasn't actually. The bus driver switched off the engine and deactivated all the doors. I, and other passengers were actually trapped. There seemed to be no way of manually opening the doors. He also refused to communicate with passengers, until I repeatedly pointed out that it was false imprisonment. He was then fairly abusive to me once he switched the engine back on to permit escape.

kslatts The rules are there for your safety and the safety of other road users you are aware that it isn't actually an offence to stop and let passengers in and out of vehicles on public roads (unless combined with an actual offence), aren't you? At all times, there was pavement access outside the bus. The bus company's terms and conditions make no reference to an intention to imprison passengers, and my right to leave a vehicle to get to my work on time on my own two feet is by no means any less important than a bus driver's right to avoid a disciplinary hearing (on spurious grounds).

In fact, if the bus company is indeed taking such a strong responsibility for passengers' safety, as you suggest, that would impose a punitively high standard of care upon them. Are you sure you are suggesting that they have voluntarily adopted such a high standard of care? Because that will make them liable for all sorts of minor accidents that occur, which their t&cs normally exclude liability for.

Anyonebutandre London buses are the same but people just press the buttons to get off. Plus the drivers make little fuss because they don't want to be stabbed.

You cannot deactivate the emergency door opening. Why didn'tyou call the police?

Also, you have to be 'held hostage' while the vehicle is in motion, or is it just okay for you to call it when the bus is stationary?

How the hell can any driver justify refusing to let passengers leave the bus a mere 3 feet away from the stop? After waiting there 10 minutes and being threatened with the police if you try to leave the bus I would be beyond furious.

He would be risking his job by letting passengers off between stops. Saying he held you 'hostage' is inflammatory wording and daft.

I was on a hit-and-run bus the other week . He drove too close to a parked car and scraped all up the side, mangling the wing mirror. Immediately a woman leapt out of the car and was joined by various pedestrians who were all staring in shock. The bus drew to a halt 20 feet further up the road and opened the doors. Half the passengers immediately got off, assuming there would now be a lengthy delay. Then the doors closed again and we were off! Everyone on the bus was . Sadly my dd promptly went into hysterics (she scares easily) and we had to get off at the next stop, so I didn't get to see what happened after that.

ECHR Article 5 states "No one shall be deprived of his liberty except in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law".

Precisely. And I think you will find that it is not permissible to allow passengers off buses other than at registered bus stops (except where a route is registered as hail and ride) because THAT IS THE LAW. It is not the bus company just making up a policy to piss its passengers off, they are legally required to have that policy and ensure their drivers enforce it.

Sadly this sort of issue is due to the where's the blame, there's a claim culture in the UK - he opens the doors, you get off, get hit by a car, you sue them. Elf and Safety and all that.

I'd personally have opened the doors & got off, pretty sure the rest of the bus would have followed.

A bit of common sense wouldn't go amiss on the part of the driver though, I wouldn't expect to spend 10 minutes stuck on a bus 3 feet from the stop - you get off on the pavement side, not into the traffic FFS.

Another case of "small man, big hat" syndrome.

For some reason this thread made me think of the Peckham terminator.

Warning - loads of swearing, NSFW

It's pretty long btw, go to 3 minutes and watch for about 20 seconds if you want to see the strangest bit.

Don't be a dick. There are cameras on the buses, if he gets caught letting you off between stops he can get fired. And its for your safety anyway.

You think the man should lose his job because you're too important to wait a few minutes?

My H drives a bus.

Many passengers every day would like to 'hop on/off' between official stops.
If he allows it, and they are hit, he and the Bus Co are in Court.
He would not allow you to get off unless you are at a proper bus stop, for your own safety.

It is annoying but would you try to exit a train when not at a station, or a plane when not on the ground?
You are FAR more likely to bit in in traffic getting off a bus.
YOU may be happy to 'take the risk' but he, his employers and their insurers aren't.

Oh, and he is not a 'small man with a big hat', IknowIam

Constance you would not BELIEVE the number of people who would be quite content for him to lose his job, if it meant they got their own way like this. Really pathetic.

(pathetic of them, not your post btw, Constance, in case I wasn't clear)

OP, I sincerely hope you never ARE held hostage, so you wouldn't make such a dopey remark.

Pah.

What is really funny about that clip is that it probably represents exactly what is going on in the heads of toddlers having a tantrum. Except the person doing it is about 20!

When in a traffic jam (so every evening), my regular bus driver always lets people off between stops. It's a train station shuttle so suspect that means they are a bit more sympathetic lax because people have trains to catch.

I don't often get this bus because it's genuinely quicker to walk, even over 20 mins.

WRT to the bus driver, half their problems come from routine grumpiness. If he had said "I would love to let you off but there are cameras on the bus and the rules about this are so strict I might lose my job, really sorry" it would probably be a whole different ball game.

He might have said that to the first hundred people who wanted to get off between stops.

Planes don't let you off between stops either. Or trains. Are they holding you hostage too, OP?

Boffin
That clip would not be so 'funny' if you were the driver, knowing you'd be in shit when you returned to the garage with a heavily damaged bus, with endless forms to fill, and also hoping none of your other passengers were hurt and your cameras were actually working (for a change) so if it goes to Court you have evidence.

FWIW, my H actually DOES explain, for the n'th time, to passengers why they cant exit. He is sympathetic but he cant break the rules as he is being filmed. And yes, it is a disciplinary offence.
His bothering to explain is usually rewarded with a 'fuck off mate, I'll do what I like' and kicking at the doors.
As well as the usual entitled 'small man big hat' type of shite.

They get through quite a lot of DNA 'spit kits' too.
He works in Edinburgh and sees - particularly during Festival season, and at Christmas and Hogmanay - people every single day, injured on the road in some fashion. He comes home and tells me about being in traffic watching the paramedics doing CPR on some person who thought they'd just 'hop off' or 'make a quick dash'.
Hilarious.

Pebble you beat me to it. I was going to raise the restrictions on passengers getting on and off of trains and planes.

I expect there are probably conditions of carriage displayed somewhere on the bus, or at stop, or on the bus company's website. I guess the bus company has it written down somewhere that passengers can not get on and off a bus other than at a designated bus stop. It's probably the case that by choosing to get on the bus and purchasing a ticket the passenger is agreeing to comply with the conditions of carriage.

Why should a driver be forced into breaking the rules imposed on him by his employer? He didn't write the rules and he could put his job at risk by breaking them. So some drivers break the rules, that's their lookout, it doesn't automatically mean all bus drivers have to take the risk.

And with regard to bus drivers using common sense or initiative I suspect that their pay and conditions reflect the fact that they are expected to drive a bus along proscribed routes and to follow the rules.