To be livid with this bus driver

[NeitherNowtNorSummat01]

So, I was on a double decker bus today with my 2 year old son. We sat upstairs at the back. When the time came to get off the bus, we pressed the button, the bus stopped and we started to get off. Half was down the stairs, the drivers pulls off, I lose grip of my son (who was holding my hand) and he falls head first down the steps.
Son screamed (and screamed and screamed). Bus driver said 'is he alright' I said 'no, clearly he's not alright... why didn't you wait' and he says 'you took too long getting off the bus'
After a short conversation (I was a bit cross) he kept repeating, next time get off the bus quicker!
Would I be unreasonable to complain to the bus company
(Son is covered in bruises... and I got off the bus and cried!)

Definitely complain OP. I say this as someone who knows they should have complained when witnessing a similar incident many years ago, although thankfully that time no-one actually got hurt. I was on a bus traveling between towns on a busy main road and a young woman with a tiny baby got on. She paid and put her buggy in the luggage area quickly but when she started to walk to a seat with her baby in her arms, the driver suddenly pulled away very quickly without waiting for her to sit down. She stumbled forwards and couldn't stop due to the momentum, couldn't grab hold of anything because of holding her little one, and so nearly went flying. I was too far away to help but I think someone managed to reach out and stop her falling. I didn't do or say anything at the time and I still feel ashamed about it. That kind of attitude from drivers needs to be challenged or it won't change. Years later, I did write a letter of complaint to a bus company when a driver treated a passenger appallingly and it was taken seriously so it is worth it. Hope your poor DS is ok now. And I hope he will be able to enjoy riding on buses again in the future.

WhatToDoAboutThis
"When getting off the bus, you ding the bell and immediately get up and go to the door so he knows you're getting off.

You do not sit and wait until the bus has stopped before even getting up. Do you realise how late that would make the bus if everyone did that?!"

What utter poppy cock! Where are you getting this from the big book of boarding and eliting from buses!

If you are in charge of a small child you wait until the bus has stopped moving and you walk down the stairs. The driver should have a mirror to see who is on the stairs. Assuming you can get into the stairs with in a minute or two the driver should be able to see you on the stairs. So should wait.

If the mirror is non-existent or broken or whatever, that is a big issue. The driver being rude and encouraging a person with a toddler to hurry down steps is wrong.

Buses are used by elderly, infirm people, young kids, all sorts, the bus driver should wait until you are safely off!

Please do complain, the accident and his attitude are unacceptable.

M0stlyBowlingHedgehog "Like a PP, I grew up in an area where the bus drivers expected you to be by the door waiting to get off, and now live in an area where it's quite normal to remain seated till the bus stops"

So it seems there are regional expectations, sorry WhatToDoAboutThis maybe this is what they do round your way.

My road is full of speedbumps and the bus lurches over these like a ship on the waves! My son insists on sitting upstairs, which we do. But I would not attempt the stairs or the bus itself while it is lurching and rolling! It just seems very unsafe and surely getting people to their destination unharmed is all part of the service, or should be!

That said, next time i get on the bus, i would still remain seated until the bus stops if I am with my son. His safety comes before making people a few minutes late.

Is he your first? You'll both get far with that attitude.

Best not try this at rush hour.

Italiangreyhound Yes, that's the etiquette round our way.

One does not make people late by getting safely off a bus! If the timetable is based around people having to fall down the stairs to avoid making others late, the timetable is not realistic!

That extra two minutes you take exiting the bus could allow someone to reach the stop and board their bus, thereby stopping them being late! Of course we do not all lead our lives with our prime concern being the arrival times of others!

WhatToDoAboutThis2017 good to know if I am ever up/down/across that way!

YANBU. It's lovely if you feel you can safely get to the door while the bus is moving. Many can't. Bus companies tell you to remain seated until the bus has stopped. You did the correct, safe thing and the driver acted dangerously and was rude.

Italiangreyhound Ha ha

I'm in London (where I'd be surprised if bus companies could be fined for being late because the traffic is so horrendous).

Years ago I had an accident which left me unable to stand for any length of time, but which wasn't visible (no crutches etc). Whenever I caught the bus to work I couldn't get a seat downstairs so always jad to go upstairs. Because of my injury I was sometimes slow getting down the stairs, and once I fell because the driver didn't use his mirrors / didn't hear me coming down the stairs. When I wrote to complain, I got a response back along the lines of 'sorry you were hurt but the driver has a timetable to keep to. You need to move faster'.
Definitely complain. Hope your little boy is ok.

Has your son been checked over by your GP, OP? It sounds like a nasty fall.

Sorry but yabu. You need to be ready to leave the bus when it stops, not take your time getting off
So your proposal is that she walks the 2 yo down the length of the bus and down a flight of steep stairs whilst the driver is stopping and starting and swerving round corners? Because frankly that's ridiculous and unsafe. The poor kid is still likely to have ended up head first down the stairs.

I catch the bus alot with my toddler. I'd rather the bus sits there and waits for people to get on and off safely.

I hate trying to swing a heavy pushchair into space around a full bus whilst the driver is pulling off at speed - its liable to cause an accident and not necessarily to me or mine.

All those people saying OP is BU as she should have been by the door are so bloody irritating.

Firstly, regardless of your local convention, I bet there is a sign saying stay seated until the bus comes to a complete stop. That is because it is dangerous to be walking as the bus is moving. There is a reason you wear seat belts in cars you know?

On that note, secondly, it is safer to be sat than stood. OP went to the only free seats.

Thirdly, even if it wasn't the case that you should wait until the bus stops, that ABSOLUTELY does NOT give the driver the right to act in a way which will endanger the passengers.

If you think it does, you are ridiculous.

OP, you are absolutely not being unreasonable and you must complain.

And okease complain OP. It could have been so much worse and it was bad enough already.

There's an old man who catches my bus. Old and infirm. He can't walk if the bus is moving so he gets on, walks till the bus moves then holds tight till the next stop them walks to a seat. Its awful - he only needs an extra 30 seconds probably. And this a guy we see every week on the way to plaugroup so he's a regular, they know he's slow and frail.

There are signs saying to remain seated until bus stops.

People keep stating this as though it's true everywhere. Like others have said, there's regional variation and I've never seen one of these signs.

definitely complain. I've been on a a bus where he sort of pulled in then straight out again, a woman said "why didn't you stop?!" and he said that kids mess around with the buttons and no one usually gets off there so he carried on!! Madness! Also last week I got the bus into the city and the guy pulled in and counted his change then made a phone call, then carried on, adding ten minutes on to the tourney, I was on the bus but was one of two of us sat upstairs so I think he may have thought it was empty. I have also been refused on a bus because I had no change less than a tenner past midnight and there were no shops open to break note, after a 12 hr shift too where I couldn't have accessed change.

I do drive but like to get the bus into the city to minimise traffic and parking costs. But it is an increasing pain in the arse.

OP I hope your little boy is OK, please please complain get on the phone and don't get off till you get an adequate response.

@mommagee that's so sad, all the driver needs to do is wait a few seconds to let him sit down. i'm fairly young and fit and climbing down the stairs when the bus is moving over speed bumps and around traffic is actually fairly hard and takes pretty good balance

owenjones what a horrible post. HORRIBLE. oh so precious first born because she doesn't want her TODDLER child to be hurt falling down stairs on a bus? Do you really think the majority of people on a bus would care if the bus hung around for a few extra seconds to let vulnerable people - toddlers and old people or people with disability for example, sit down rather than they be a minute or two late for work? I'd rather get an earlier bus and it be safe for everyone. "You'll both get far with that attitude" ?! How horrid. No one matters except for those rushing to get to work, do they?

MommaGee please point out to the bus driver loudly "please wait, an elderly gentleman is still moving down the bus." Do it every time you see it happen.

Also parking at a dodge angle to the verb so its not a straight climb off. I really struggle to get the pushchair off over a large gap and god knows how the oldies do it.

DrivEr pulled up away from the shelter the other day bit within the paint lines. Old man who had walked to the front told her she needed to pull up to the shelter because the verb is higher and hid wife couldn't get down. She was seriously arsey when all she needed top do was roll forward a few feet.
.its not that hard to be polite to the paint customer.

Surprised OP hasn't had a gold star for not being an evil buggy user

Italiangreyhound. MommaGee please point out to the bus driver loudly "please wait, an elderly gentleman is still moving down the bus." Do it every time you see it happen
You're right actually

MommaGee it is actually quite sad the driver has so little respect for his job that he is doing it so badly. He is being paid to ferry people about safely and he is doing a shit job.

You could also report him anonymously, but I'd rather try the polite way first.

@mommagee haha good point. Use buggy on bus = parent is evil person who basically forces disabled people off bus at all times

Don't use buggy, let child toddle and therefore fall and hurt self badly = parent is irresponsible and shouldn't have child roaming free on bus where they could fall and cannot exit bus quick enough therefore making the most important people to exist (aka people on way to work) late

Maybe parents with little children should teleport instead?

If your fit, able and steady on your feet you can get up before the bus has stopped. Frail, disabled, young children wait til the bus has stopped. If the driver's driving like a bat out of he'll and braking sharply, hang on for dear life and get up when the bus has stopped, regardless of whether you're frail or not.

I remember an elderly lady died on a local bus route after the bus braked suddenly.

www.standard.co.uk/news/elderly-passenger-dies-after-bus-suddenly-brakes-7209186.html?amp

I'd complain as it may help the drivers.

The pressure to stick to timetables is quite hard. Certainly the timetable doesn't leave time for slow disembarking from the back of the top deck to the front including toddlers going down the stairs with the parent behind them and unable to catch them.

This would probably only add about 90 seconds a stop but needs to be timetabled for each stop. This, on longer routes would add quite some time to the timetable but hey ho. Who needs to get anywhere anyway.