Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be livid with this bus driver

195 replies

NeitherNowtNorSummat01 · 11/05/2017 22:05

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!)

OP posts:
lizzieoak · 12/05/2017 03:49

When my kids were little I noticed the drivers were fine with the elderly but generally complete arsehats with children. Constantly taking off racism before the tinies had sat down. It must be quite frightening to be little and unsteady on your feet in those situations.

scaryclown · 12/05/2017 03:51

Stairs are normally right behind driver. He can hear. He is wrong. It is dangerous. Bus is not supposed to move when people are on stairs. Complain.

BoomBoomsCousin · 12/05/2017 03:58

You should absolutely complain in writing. The driver drove dangerously when he pulled away while you were coming down the stairs. He will be under pressure to keep to the timetable, the managers at the company need to hear from you so there will be pressure to take the time necessary for a safe journey too.

Cheby · 12/05/2017 04:41

Definitely complain. In fact I would actually go for compensation if this happened to me again. I was on a bus with my 2yo niece when I was pregnant. Driving was awful for the whole journey, constantly speeding up or slamming brakes on. Driver slammed brakes on at traffic lights and half the bus went flying. I slammed into a handrail in front of me and landed on the floor, thankfully managed to keep hold of my niece. Man at the back had his face smashed open and was bleeding and his 4yo daughter was thrown to the floor.

The idiot driver just kept going and refused to stop to check we were ok! The man bleeding from his face was begging him to stop (driver could see the injury!) and he just kept going. I got off the bus asap as I was shocked and didn't feel safe on there, I had to go to hospital to get checked out which ruined our day out in London.

When I called to complain TFL were lovely on the phone. All I wanted was an explanation of what the hell had been going on that day and a proper apology. Lady in call centre assured me they would look in to it properly. 3 days later I got a lawyers letter essentially telling me to sue or fuck off, just like this poster did. Then no further contact and when I called they referred me to the letter.

My son got hurt, while seated, because of a reckless bus driver. But when I wrote to complain (the bus was almost flying over speed bumps) I got a lawyers letter back, basically telling me to provide details of witnesses or fuck off

I didn't sue, but next time I would, based entirely on the way they handled the complaints. Seems like it's the only way you would get an apology out of them.

Toysaurus · 12/05/2017 07:12

Bollock to some of these answers. I've been getting buses every day for 39 years. If there are no seats downstairs and we have to sit upstairs - and we do have to sit because of my son's disability - then we stand at the top of the stairs and only start walking down them when the bus has stopped. The force of the bus doing what my son calls the final Dangerous Duff as it stops is too strong for younger children walking down stairs.

Complain in writing. Not everyone is able to freely walk through a moving bus.

GoingplaceZ · 12/05/2017 07:20

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Bearfrills · 12/05/2017 07:44

Go Ahead, Arriva and Stagecoach all have signs saying to ring the bell and then remain seated until the bus has stopped. In their conditions of carriage for all three companies it also states passengers are strictly not permitted to stand up on the top deck or to be on the stairs at any time while the bus is moving. The OP was right to remain seated until the bus stopped and the driver was being an arsehole.

Bearfrills · 12/05/2017 07:45

next time you get on the bus with your child dont go right up to the back and wait til the bus stops at the stop you want to get off at to start moving........

Except they were the only seats available and the conditions of carriage state to stay seated until the bus stops...

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 12/05/2017 07:48

The bus drover shoyld account for all sorta of people and the time they might need to get off: disabled, elderly, parents with small children.

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 12/05/2017 07:50

GoingPlacez walking slower with a child than if you're on your own is not being precious. Hope your day gets better.

Gileswithachainsaw · 12/05/2017 07:54

The only things that piss me off that cause delays are....

People who stand there finishing their conversations before they leave the bus.

People who barge on making others have to try and squeeze park and everyone else move because no one can be arsed to wait to seconds for people to get off first.

People who argue for several minutes because their passes start at nine and they think they can chance it for 854 then delay things by arguing so they can get on.

Never is it a problem to wait for people to make their way to the door safely. What kinda arsehole does.

Marmalade85 · 12/05/2017 07:56

If you were just on the bus for the experience could you perhaps choose a less busy route or go at a different time so your son can enjoy the ride next time? Quite unwise to go at the back of the top deck with a toddler but I guess that is hindsight.

Bearfrills · 12/05/2017 07:57

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.

Do you know what? You're absolutely right! Next time I've got the DC in the car, I'll make sure I don't make the driver or the other passengers late by not bothering to do up their car seats. I'll also ask the lollypop man on the walk to school to not bother stopping the traffic, it'll be faster for the kids to gauge the traffic flow and then just run across the road. Best get rid of childproof apse on bleach and medicines too, they take a few extra seconds to open. Oh, and I'll remove my stair gates when the plumber comes to my house later today so he isn't unduly delayed getting up and down the stairs. After all, other people's time comes ahead of a child's safety.

What an utterly ridiculous thing to say, owenjones

NormaSmuff · 12/05/2017 07:59

were you actually walking down slowly?
could you have picked up your dc?
you cant take the piss in an entitled manner but we dont know how slowly you were going

GoingplaceZ · 12/05/2017 08:04

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

GoingplaceZ · 12/05/2017 08:06

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Gileswithachainsaw · 12/05/2017 08:07

If she wasn't in the bus it easily would have been some one else...

Peanutbutterrules · 12/05/2017 08:14

Your son could have been seriously hurt. Of course complain. In writing, with photo's. You need to complain to make sure they sort this driver out before someone gets hurt - badly.

Bearfrills · 12/05/2017 08:20

As the OP doesn't usually get a bus she wouldn't have had prior knowledge of how busy that route gets and how busy a bus will be is not an easy thing to judge. She doesn't say what time of day she was travelling, we have buses around here that you'd expect to be quiet during the school day when almost everyone is at work/school but that is actually there busiest period and they're packed to the rafters with standing room only.

Regardless though of why the OP was on the bus, she and her son are still entitled to basic safety considerations such as the divers not pulling away while a small child is still on the stairs. The driver is the one in the wrong here not the OP or her son.

TheWhiteRoseOfYork · 12/05/2017 08:27

Can some people read? The OP was upstairs at the back because there were no other seats available. RTFT please!

Original poster
NeitherNowtNorSummat01 · 12/05/2017 08:51

Thank you everyone. I have just written a letter of complaint to the bus company, using a lot of the things mentioned here. THere have been some really helpful comments.

It shouldn't really matter why I was on the bus, as no one deserves to be flung down a flight of stairs. We hadn't just sat on the bus for fun. We had been running errands in town (during the working day) and decided to get the bus instead of taking the car. Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate a packed but at that time of the day, otherwise we would have avoided it.

OP posts:
MommaGee · 12/05/2017 09:02

Our service is allegedly 7 minutes so never to full. Then they fail to show up, you wait 30 minutes and its full to the rafters. Even an experienced busser can't call it.

oingplaceZ. Yabu. You shouldnt have sat right up at the back only available seats. No indication how long to the next one and she has stuff to do too.
*

PickAChew · 12/05/2017 09:10

It's not just a matter of knowing how busy thatbus route gets. We don't all have the luxury of multiple bus routes or buses sufficiently frequent that it's just a short wait for the next one if the bus that arrives is busy.

As for the 1 minute early, 5 minutes late thing, that doesn't cover circumstances out of their control such as more or slower passengers than usual or busy roads.

Currently waiting for a bus that's on time about once a week!

GoingplaceZ · 12/05/2017 09:14

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

minesapintofwine · 12/05/2017 09:15

Some of these posts are shocking. This is a 2 year old that was hurt because the bus driver moved off before he was off the bus. How could the blame possibly lie with the op? Get real will you?

Even if he hadn't seen you on the stairs his response was dreadful. Just out of interest what did the other passengers say? I'm so glad you complained op and hope your poor ds is ok Sad. Let us know the outcome. (I would have cried too!)