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?!

He drives a school bus not a HGV he won’t go over hours driving children to and from
school

Partner is a school bus driver.... it depends on the service provided.. is the route door to door ( as in home) or is the route usually to the bus stop and he's been driving to home as a courtesy?

Jesus Wept

Exactly. OP got there in time. Her daughter was not abandoned on her own as so many people on this thread keep stating.
Absolutely no one knows what the driver would have done if she hadn't turned up in time. That is for the OP to ascertain with the bus company.
You can't vilify a person on the basis they "might have" done something.

RTFT. Or at least the OP’s posts. This has been covered. It’s to a bus stop. He failed to take her to her bus stop.

Why are you trying to make the drivers actions ok? It’s intriguing.

There was one teen where I live who was raped in the cemetery walking home from school.This is a well used route and the cemetery is manned during opening hours. Any teenage girl left somewhere to stand alone or left to walk alone is vulnerable. What if you were 30mins away? It would have been quicker for him to drive the route than wait for you to get there surely. . The driver just couldn’t be arsed to go the correct route. Were there others who were dropped off before their stops too?

I don't know whether the driver's actions were ok or not. That's why I've repeatedly said OP needs to have a proper conversation with the bus company.

All we know is that he didn't take OP's DD to her normal stop. There may or may not have been a good reason for this, which OP needs to find out.

I simply don't think people should be viified for things they may not have done. That's why we have an "innocent until proven guilty" system in the UK. An awful lot of posters have claimed a variation of "he dumped her on her own in the middle of nowhere". This is simply untrue. OP's DD was thankfully quite safe at all times. I totally agree that OP should follow up and work out if the correct procedure was followed. But there is no evidence the bus driver did anything he shouldn't have done.

Why are you so keen to make the driver's actions not ok? it's intriguing.

The driver, an adult being paid for a service, deviated from his normal, agreed route, then kicked his passengers off at a random stop. Is that ok?

Like the poster you are respondng to, I suspect it is likely the contract is to the stop he dropped her at. For secondary schools it is very unusual for a school bus (private school or not) to collect from the door as part of the contract. It is normally as an obligement they go further.

Has the OP can come back with what the school or bus company said?

Where’s ‘the door’?

I haven't read anywhere what the actual contracted bus stop is.. hence the statement my fully qualifed bus driver partner made... but he did say the attitude of this driver left a whole lot to be desired and was unacceptable, at the very least report him for this

Those saying driver can only drive certain hours are veing ridiculous as traffic and delays would have been taken into consideration when allocating shifts. I think it's outrageous behaviour and you need to pursue this with the school and bus company

You can on what he failed to do - ie deliver the OP's DD to her designated stop!

15 mins would not put him over his hours, with a child involved, yes, this is wrong, find out who was on that day regardless and report him.

I'm assuming he meant over his working hours not his tachograph hours. If he wouldn't drive the child to her designated drop off point, because his shift had ended, it seems highly unlikely that he was planning to wait until the mum arrived, because, errr, that was also after his shift ended.

Not "supposition", but very likely!

Why are you so insistent on justifying him?!

The contract isn’t to the stop he dropped her at and the OP confirmed this.

He is contracted and paid to deliver children to specific stops. He doesn’t get to decide he can’t be bothered because there’s a bit of traffic. It’s not his decision.

Why are you assuming it wasn't his driving hours?

My point obviously is that the LEA clearly take the view that a child that age is competent to deal with the inevitable disruptions that are part and parcel of travelling on public transport

Why not?

The OP's DD isn't travelling on public transport.

And that is an understanding with the parents and children, which is different to this situation, where the private operator driver is required to drop the child off at a designated spot.

Come back OP and update us!!!!