Tram driver enforcing one rule but not another.

[londonbridge]

Was on the Croydon tramlink last night, the driver stopped a lad from bringing a bike on board (only folding bikes allowed), but ignored the bloke who was drinking a bottle of lager (no drinking or carrying open containers of alcohol allowed).

 

[Domh245]

Who would be more difficult to remove from the tram? Someone who is bringing a bike on (and in all likelihood, is sober, and knows that he is braking the rules) or someone who is drinking lager (and quite likely to be drunk/disorderly/abusive/violent etc). It's all about conflict avoidance these days.

*cue inevitable comments from armchair warriors about how "if i were the driver i'd have picked him up by the scruff of his neck, carried him off the tram, assisted him to the floor and then got back under way, all without any delay to the service"

 

[Antman]

Was on the Croydon tramlink last night, the driver stopped a lad from bringing a bike on board (only folding bikes allowed), but ignored the bloke who was drinking a bottle of lager (no drinking or carrying open containers of alcohol allowed).

The driver may not have spotted the bottle of lager? Obviously a bike is more noticeable.

 

[edwin_m]

A bike could be considered to be a hazard to others especially if the tram is crowded. If the lager drinker was reasonably sober he wouldn't be a particular danger to the other passengers. And if he was drunk the driver might just have thought it was better to take him to his destination than risk a confrontation which would cause delay and could become a lot worse than that.

 

[richa2002]

In other words then, as usual, the plain and placid get the rules applied rigorously and the more unsavoury characters get away with it as they are too much of a hassle/risk to deal with. I don't blame the driver but it shows something is wrong.

 

[martin2345uk]

In other words then, as usual, the plain and placid get the rules applied rigorously and the more unsavoury characters get away with it as they are too much of a hassle/risk to deal with. I don't blame the driver but it shows something is wrong.

I don't disagree but what's the solution?

 

[yorkie]

...It's all about conflict avoidance these days....

In other words then, as usual, the plain and placid get the rules applied rigorously and the more unsavoury characters get away with it....

Very true.

I don't disagree but what's the solution?

Indeed, it's a wider problem with our society in general.

 

[185]

Was on the Croydon tramlink last night, the driver stopped a lad from bringing a bike on board (only folding bikes allowed), but ignored the bloke who was drinking a bottle of lager (no drinking or carrying open containers of alcohol allowed).

Maybe these two scenarios:

If the brakes come on, the drunk bangs his head and falls out his seat.

If the brakes come on, the bike, which has took up 5 spaces, lands on a baby.

Damn, that can o' worms

 

[Antman]

In other words then, as usual, the plain and placid get the rules applied rigorously and the more unsavoury characters get away with it as they are too much of a hassle/risk to deal with. I don't blame the driver but it shows something is wrong.

And that is exactly my argument against the penalty fare system but that's another subject:cry:

 

[Hophead]

Because the driver does not supervise the tram interior but can clearly see, on approaching the stop, that a passenger has a bicycle with him (these being rather more difficult to conceal than a bottle of beer).

 

[Clip]

In other words then, as usual, the plain and placid get the rules applied rigorously and the more unsavoury characters get away with it as they are too much of a hassle/risk to deal with. I don't blame the driver but it shows something is wrong.

So we know for sure that the tram driver actually saw the person drinking the beer then?

He can see a bike being brought on to the tram but how is it possible for him to discern between a bottle of pop and a bottle of beer?

And how do you know the person with the beer was 'unsavoury'? Were you there? Did you see him? Maybe he just wanted a beer after he had been at work all day?

Lets face it most obey the no booze rule all over TfL but there will always be a few who don't and its very very hard to detect them as they have these magic things called pockets where they can hide the drink when someone comes along.