Walton bus driver 'ordered mother and crying child off bus'

[Kilted_Scot]

As an ex bus driver, screaming kids were part and parcel. Would I kick them off? Don't be ridiculous. Just get on with the job, perhaps I could deal with it better than others, but seriously its nor like it screaming at you for your full shift.

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[gswindale]

Do we know for certain it was just a screaming child?

There are normally 2 sides to any incident like this. We've heard the mother's side of things but nothing from other passengers nor the driver.

If this screaming child was also throwing his toys out the pram, then there could well be a safety issue here - especially as the buggy spaces are normally in close proximity to the driver.

Let us wait until more facts are known before castigating the driver.

 

[SS4]

Without getting caught up in the hard facts of this case, which we may never fully know, it seems there is a general differing opinion of what is acceptable.
Either screaming kids is part and parcel of being a bus driver or it isn't and the driver has the right to ask them to leave the bus regardless of where, when and any other circumstances.

I personally find the latter point of view disgraceful and I'd hate to think that is what is being instructed by the bus companies. For one, parents don't have a choice if their two year old starts screaming and secondly asking them to leave the bus may leave them vulnerable, in danger and quite frankly stuck.

It shows a lack of basic human compassion and I agree, those drivers who don't demonstrate that surely are in the wrong job.

Except the latter argument is grounded in the safety of the bus passengers. The driver does not have the right to remove them because they are screaming but because their screaming is a distraction and a distraction is endangering the safety of the bus. They're not been thrown off because the driver is a misanthrope or for ****s and giggles.

Obviously the acceptable level of distraction will vary between drivers.

Do we know for certain it was just a screaming child?

There are normally 2 sides to any incident like this. We've heard the mother's side of things but nothing from other passengers nor the driver.

If this screaming child was also throwing his toys out the pram, then there could well be a safety issue here - especially as the buggy spaces are normally in close proximity to the driver.

Let us wait until more facts are known before castigating the driver.

No we don't and we never will. The driver himself has been gagged and the company will bend over backwards to preserve itself - if necessary sacrificing the driver. We'll never hear their side as it happened, only the exact thing that will cause the least PR damage.

Didn't something similar happen in the guide bridge thread? Where the TOC was chastised and then the facts came out largely exonerating the TOC

 

[ANorthernGuard]

The guard involved in that hasn't been seen for a long time and the wheelchair user has been spotted very occasionally. Seems an eternity ago now

 

[Ivo]

A thought has occurred to me: What if a child in this position had been diagnosed as having ADHD and cried or "thrashed" around in a distracting manner? The nature of ADHD is such that it could become massively distracting to everyone, which may necessitate the need for such a passenger to be removed from a vehicle (not something easy to write about a toddler), but equally there are equality issues to consider...

Erm we're talking about a child of two!! I'm guessing you're not a parent, Ivo?

Just to clarify this, I am not - but I do have a niece who is now 5 and she cried a lot at 2. We just accepted it and got on with it. I have also seen numerous other children of roughly 2 on buses crying (the joys of being a regular passenger :roll and never known any incident at all.

 

[quarella]

As I am not a parent though sometimes in loco parentis including special needs and I haven't driven a bus for about twenty years I decided to canvas opinion from friends who are currently bus drivers, nursery teachers and parents.
We only have the passenger's view possibly slightly amended by journalistic licence.

From a bus driver

All service buses have a sign that says "Please do not speak to or otherwise distract the Driver" do they not?

A Bus driver needs to accept a degree of noise on his bus ... but if he feels the degree and severity of it is sufficient to distract him and consequently put his passengers, vehicle and other road users at risk, then intervention, including removal of the person (or parking up until a relief driver is found) is HIS call to make. The DRIVER's responsible for his load - and thats all

A nursery teacher/parent

Tantrums need to be managed or the child will continue to think that it is acceptable and a method of getting their own way.

 

[wintonian]

As I am not a parent though sometimes in loco parentis including special needs and I haven't driven a bus for about twenty years I decided to canvas opinion from friends who are currently bus drivers, nursery teachers and parents.
We only have the passenger's view possibly slightly amended by journalistic licence.

From a bus driver

A nursery teacher/parent

Well that's not quite true, a bus driver like all drives is also responsible for playing their part in ensuring the safety of other road users and pedestrians.

But then I'm being pedantic.

 

[notadriver]

My thoughts in that situation I might have pulled over in the safest place and asked the parent to sit further away from the cab and/or wait for the child to calm down. At least it's not kicking them off the vehicle.