School bus driver refused to drop my daughter home

[Theherringbones]

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?!

Was this at Victoria? I’m in London and this exact thing happened to us. Bus c1 from Westfield to Victoria train station and the driver announced at Sloane Square that there was traffic and he wasn’t going to make it to Victoria. Dropped us off just after Sloane Square, the heavens open and I and my mum and presumably others got absolutely pelted by rain. Furious at the driver. Hope your daughter’s okay. This was just around 6 so hopefully not the same time as it’ll be too late for her.

Just a reminder that there are zero valid counter arguments. Child safety trumps all.

But if there is am accident and it causes an unusual and excessive delay, (and given the early bus only just beat the late bus it sounds like the traffic was very unusual) that is not predictable. The tachograph records driving hours and if the driver goes over he can be prosecuted, fined and receive points.I very much doubt the contractor has 2 extra drivers just sitting about on the off-chance they mat be needed.
The kid is 13/ 14 and had called t heir parents.I really think a little more resilience should be expected of this age group

Why isn’t the adult male expected to have more resilience & actually carry out his job duties instead of giving up because of traffic, hardly unusual if driving is your chosen occupation? And why can’t he take the valid criticism from OP instead of getting defensive about his actions?

Well he can raise any of these hypothetical personal factors for not doing his job properly during his disciplinary hearing.

That’s for him, but it’s not relevant to OP or her daughter. Why should she contort her experience of a rude aggressive man to imagine circumstances where he is a more sympathetic figure.

No, shes Year 9, so at least 13. She had spoken to her mother and knew mum was on the way. She wasn’t left somewhere ‘unfamiliar’. She was on a bus route that shes presumably taken every day for 3 years.
All that being said, unless theres a backstory, it was a pretty shitty thing for the driver to do.

Which is why I said there should be a contingency plan…

just because she goes past somewhere whilst sitting on a bus, doesn't mean she is familiar with it... doesn't mean she knows the surrounding area, or how to get home from there on foot.

Drivers get held up in traffic, or by an unexpected incident such as a breakdown or a passenger falling ill etc. A bus driver could lose their licence and income if they drive beyond their legal hours. It's not a fabricated excuse.

So I got her age wrong, it's still a safe guarding issue. Who in their right mind would leave a child in The dark expecting them to make their own way home. What if she didn't have her phone

If the "late" bus was catching up with the "normal" bus, the sensible thing would have been for them to combine and sit the remaining stops surely.

When people don't bother to read and understand the original post. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
"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." Doesn't quite sound like Sloane Square to Victoria. And it was a dedicated school trip.

If the traffic is bad it is less likely that parents will be in a position to be somewhere else unexpectedly... Because they're probably caught in that same traffic and can't magic themselves 15 minutes further for the time they were hoping to be at home.. assuming they're definitely home which is less crucial with a Y9 than primary age. Wouldn't be impressed.

I would be incredibly unhappy about this. Safeguarding is non existent here. What if you didn't drive what would she have done. I would go to g9vernors if school don't sort this. Disgusting

She's year 9. Not age 9. 14 years old.

I have read the full thread and your updates. The arguments that the driver may have run out of hours are not robust. Just like in most walks of life, you build in a contingency plan for delays. If for example you were due to catch a pre-booked train at 10:00, you would not arrange to board the train at 9:59. Traffic delays are a fact of life.

Please let us know how you get on.

Or could be 13y, possibly could have been 12 just 3 weeks ago - we don’t know and it is irrelevant.

She was left on a 60mph country road in the dark - no suitable pavements to walk on. Doesn’t mean that she is familiar with the roads on foot - it actually reads that is very unlikely to have ever been able to walk the route. Someone said she may have been using this route for 3 years - again, we don’t know, it may have also been for only 3 weeks, either way it is also irrelevant.

The PP who thinks that she and her DCs are amazing for putting up with shit service is missing the point. It is a normal reaction to be upset or stressed if dropped off unexpectedly in the dark, in a possibly unfamiliar place, several miles from home. Even more so if this is the first time it has happened, as it seems to be from OP’s messages. If it were to happen again, it maybe that she will be less teary having been through it before.

Clearly unacceptable to leave the child there. But not quite as unacceptable as if she was only 9 years old.

You know school bus drivers don’t only do that. They drive other buses during the day, not put their feet up and wait for school to finish! Same goes for school crossing guards and milkmen

Phone the school OP. You won’t be the only parent who does so. Make sure you ask to be informed what happens.

Absolutely unacceptable behaviour from the bus driver.

And it absolutely is a safeguarding issue.

Your poor dd. I’m glad she’s ok. Absolutely complain. My dd would have been exactly the same at that age. She is now 16 and would take such things in her stride much more.

I think being dumped somewhere you are unfamiliar with (and sitting on a bus as it drives through is not the same as walking) can be quite upsetting.

We don't know if he asked her to call mum he might not have, he might not even know whether mum can get to her or whether she would have to walk.

I understand what people are saying about hours but there are ways to account for that. Once the driver has worked close to his/ her hours then maybe a second driver should be on board.

Or there should be a contingency plan, something like once you are not able to complete the journey within your driving time a taxi should be called or the students left in a safe place.

Actually I think the hours is a bit of a red herring, he would need to have time to get back to the bus station / depot so would have enough time to get the OP's DD home even if he then had to wait for another driver.

Ugh, I hate the ‘suck it up, I’d be cool with this’ brigade! As an adult, I would be furious if a bus driver dropped me off at an unscheduled stop miles away from where I was supposed to be dropped, and I imagine most other people would be too. Added to that, children, in the dark, and it is a massive safeguarding risk!! That is shocking, and for a service that you pay for, so far below reasonable standards! I would be fuming OP, and I think it’s quite right that your DD was upset.

Reminder - there are no counter arguments.

Child safety trumps everything.