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AIBU?

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Original poster

School bus driver refused to drop my daughter home

492 replies

Theherringbones · 26/09/2024 21:09

My year 9 daughter gets the school bus service home from school everyday. Its a private service for her school only and It’s about a 50 minute journey.

Tonight there is an unusual amount of traffic on the roads. The driver refused to drop my daughter at her (home) stop as it would take him too long to get there. He said he would drop her somewhere 15 minutes away and she would have to have someone pick her up. She was in tears in the phone to me. The usual 50 minute trip took him about 80 minutes.

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. I know that it would have taken him an extra 15 minutes to drop her home, but it is his job!

I was stuck in the middle of the traffic in the opposite direction, trying to collect my other child and had to make all sorts of crazy arrangements with friends to get to her. Luckily I made it just in time.

I had words with him and he was completely rude, ignorant, aggressive and arrogant about it. He refused to give me his name and said it would have take him too long to take her home (it would have been an extra time for him) and there wasn’t another option.

How can a private bus service that is the only reason she can attend this school, refuse to drop her home? Am I being unreasonable or should he have dropped her home, no matter what?!

OP posts:
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7
Winteriscominginfast · 26/09/2024 21:16

He will be limited to the amount of hours he can drive in a day, and he may have been near his limit. That said he should have stayed with your daughter until she was collected.

purpleme12 · 26/09/2024 21:17

If that's the route he's supposed to take then that's the route he should go

jigglywigglyhungryhippo · 26/09/2024 21:17

Is she the only passenger?

mushpush · 26/09/2024 21:20

We had similar in poor weather with a private school bus I had to take - we got dropped off by a random roundabout once 😂

Have you spoken to the company / school at all about this policy? I'm guessing there will be some rules around this! He can't just be allowed to decide on his own surely, seems mad!

PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister · 26/09/2024 21:20

He won’t have been able to because he will legally only be allowed to drive so many hours in a day. If he can’t drive then he can’t drive, it’s the law. I think he should have stopped with her, but if there was lots of traffic and he had to stop then that’s the way it is legally.

SausageinaBun · 26/09/2024 21:20

Was he just going to leave her where he stopped?

Who contacts the bus service - the school or LA?

If he was planning on just leaving her, that would be a big safeguarding failure. Staying until you got there is a bit better, but not the service that is bring paid for.

jigglywigglyhungryhippo · 26/09/2024 21:21

If she was the only one- then YANBU

YABU If he had other kids- then I think what he did was sensible; he asked her to ring you. I don't get why your daughter would be in tears though unless she has anxiety/etc. He has to get all the kids home, and if he had to do a 15 min diversion for every child, he'd be working over his hours due to the traffic.

Bignanna · 26/09/2024 21:21

purpleme12 · 26/09/2024 21:17

If that's the route he's supposed to take then that's the route he should go

And if the girl had come to harm?

Molly546 · 26/09/2024 21:23

He didn't say that he was over his time though did he. Bus companies are going to factor in for traffic . He also wouldn't give his name so obviously knew he was doing wrong. School bus drivers can't just drop kids off in random places because the traffic is bad, what if the child didn't have a phone? She could also have SEN for all he knows, autistic ds used to get the bus and he would have been distraught about something like this.

You need to complain to the school OP if this is organised by them and if not then you need to complain to the bus company. They will know who was driving even if he wouldn't give you his name.

Flibbertyjibberty · 26/09/2024 21:23

I'd have been really cross about this - what if there had been no one around to pick her up? There must be legal or moral implications to leaving a child somewhere and driving off as well as to how long he's been driving. I would have expected him to at least make sure she was picked up safely, especially if she was upset.

User37482 · 26/09/2024 21:23

If I paid for Dd to be taken from a to b thats what I would expect to receive tbh. Your DD needs to be a bit tougher, she shouldn’t be in tears about it, annoyed yes but not crying.

Gelasring · 26/09/2024 21:23

I'd take it up with the company. He may well have been over his hours but the company should have a policy for this kind of situation surely? I'd want to know if they had one and if he followed it. I don't think just dropping a kid off what is presumably a 15 minute drive away not a 15 minute walk is acceptable. I can see why she panicked.

modgepodge · 26/09/2024 21:24

Yes, there are a limited number of hours a driver can drive legally in a day/week/not sure what period. It is ridiculous however that a delay of 15 minutes due to traffic should put him over his hours. Minor delays like this should be built in when the company plans the route.

Clearinguptheclutter · 26/09/2024 21:26

Def make a complaint though if the driver was reaching his maximum hours then this would have been reasonable
I suspect he would have told your daughter though if that was the issue

that all being said I’d expect a y9 age child to be able to deal with this
we all have transport/traffic issues from time to time

Hankunamatata · 26/09/2024 21:27

Sadly driver only have so many driver hours by law and have a tachograph. He legally cannot drive after his time runs out.

Molly546 · 26/09/2024 21:28

jigglywigglyhungryhippo · 26/09/2024 21:21

If she was the only one- then YANBU

YABU If he had other kids- then I think what he did was sensible; he asked her to ring you. I don't get why your daughter would be in tears though unless she has anxiety/etc. He has to get all the kids home, and if he had to do a 15 min diversion for every child, he'd be working over his hours due to the traffic.

Why does everyone go on about this nonsense of him being over his hours?

A bus driver can drive 10 fucking hours a day! You're not telling me a school bus driver is doing more than 10 hours a day.

People stop now with this nonsense, please.

TickingAlongNicely · 26/09/2024 21:28

I asked my FIL before when DD was on a delayed school trip... (he's a bus driver)... They can go over in an emergency situation. Not abandoning a 13yo girl miles from her usual stop is an emergency situation

CallMeFlo · 26/09/2024 21:28

A bus driver can drive a max of 10 hours a day. I'd think it's very unlikely that someone who drives a private service for schools would be over that by what 3pm?? I don't know many local bus services which start at 5am

Somerandomerontheinternet · 26/09/2024 21:28

She cried because she is 9. She didn’t know whether her mother was able to pick her up and was being told she was being left somewhere unfamiliar.

I don’t believe that 15 minutes would make or break whether he was exceeding maximum hours and from the aggression and rudeness sounds like he’s wholly unsuited to a job transporting children.

Scutterbug · 26/09/2024 21:29

Somerandomerontheinternet · 26/09/2024 21:28

She cried because she is 9. She didn’t know whether her mother was able to pick her up and was being told she was being left somewhere unfamiliar.

I don’t believe that 15 minutes would make or break whether he was exceeding maximum hours and from the aggression and rudeness sounds like he’s wholly unsuited to a job transporting children.

Year 9 not 9.

KrisAkabusi · 26/09/2024 21:29

She cried because she is 9

Year 9, so a lot older.

Bayern · 26/09/2024 21:30

User37482 · 26/09/2024 21:23

If I paid for Dd to be taken from a to b thats what I would expect to receive tbh. Your DD needs to be a bit tougher, she shouldn’t be in tears about it, annoyed yes but not crying.

Year 9. She is probably 13. And being left somewhere she doesn't expect to be. And you say she shouldn't be upset. Have some empathy. You only have to look at the number of threads on here from adult women who don't like being in unknown places on their own to know that women and girls feel vulnerable in this kind of situation.

mumbleberry · 26/09/2024 21:30

I think it would be quite hard for a school bus driver to near his hours limit ..?

Both the number of hours before a break and the overall hours in a day

mumbleberry · 26/09/2024 21:31

Ah ok @Molly546 already said it 😂

Somerandomerontheinternet · 26/09/2024 21:31

Scutterbug · 26/09/2024 21:29

Year 9 not 9.

Show quote history

Ah thanks I read to quickly - comments make more sense in that context.

my comments on his lack of professionalism still stand though.