Had a bad bus trip with baby

[Donna35]

I went on a bus with Jason the other day and OMG never again - to save typing it all out again I'll just paste here the letter I have just emailed to the bus company. This has upset me and pissed me off SOOOOO much - my baby could have been badly hurt - I didn't go through 9months pregnancy and then childbirth just for some dumbass to endanger my pride and joy my little boy and they BETTER sort this out

Here goes:

I would like to issue a very serious complaint. 2 days ago on 25th August at 17.05pm i travelled with my 2 week old son in his pram on the 25 bus from ***** to ******. I got onto the bus and paid the driver and he pulled the bus out straight away without giving me a chance to park and secure the pram at all - I had just barely moved past the drivers seat and it almost sent me and the pram flying. This is totally unacceptable to me.

Babies are very vulnerable but more so when extremely young like my son is. The route I was travelling on has a very narrow road and is not always possible for traffic to move freely so there can be a lot of stopping and starting and I have recently found on this route that a lot of the bus drivers seem to come to a halt and pull out very suddenly. What if a car had come along and the driver stopped suddenly?? This could have had such a detrimental effect on my baby.

I am extremely upset and horrified by the driver's lack of consideration for the safety of my son. I also find in general while travelling on this route that some of the drivers have no patience with more vulnerable passengers - namely the elderly and very young.

As a service provider the company should ensure that all drivers look after their customer/passenger safety - this is paramount and would prevent avoidable incidents such as what happened to me.

I fully expect that this matter be taken further and I await to hear from you the outcome of this.



What do you think? Has anyone else had this happen to them?

 

[keelykat]

Ive had this happen loads of times before sadly. Bus drivers are idiots.

 

[Donna35]

Ive had this happen loads of times before sadly. Bus drivers are idiots.

They sure are - well the bosses in there better sort this out for me or I'll be on the phone to them - it really upset me cos I'm sooooo protective of my little man and don't ant anything to happen to him. Felt like smacking the driver lol

 

[keelykat]

Ive had this happen loads of times before sadly. Bus drivers are idiots.

They sure are - well the bosses in there better sort this out for me or I'll be on the phone to them - it really upset me cos I'm sooooo protective of my little man and don't ant anything to happen to him. Felt like smacking the driver lol

I actually shouted at one driver, told him he was driving like a maniac and he just laughed at me! So as well as speeding, slamming on breaks and stopping so far away from the pavement i struggled to get off, he then laughs at me! I could have smacked him too!

 

[Babydance]

Good for you hun! Everyone complains about it but doesnt take action about it so good for you!!

 

[cs22]

Some of the drivers have no patience at all. I got on a bus to town last week, the driver gave me no time to get my pram in the space. He started the bus too quickly, my pram jolted forward and i nearly head butted the pole. I shouted at the driver in front of a half packed bus..,... He was a complete idiot !!!

 

[Donna35]

cs22 you should complain hun that's awful you could have gotten concussion. The drivers pay no attention so it's best to go above their heads to the management.

 

[Arcanegirl]

Happens alot with our busses aswell. IVe complained to First Bus Glasgow about another matter and i didnt even get a response, neither did my OH for something else aswell.
They just dont care about anything other than money.

 

[Connah'sMommy]

this happens evey time i use a bus! they have no consideration for any1,they see it as they are drivin the bus n as long as the passenegers are on...sat down or not...they can set off! i havnt taken my son on the bus with me yet mainly because im too scared to do so but the last time i used a bus there was a very frail old lady getting to a seat and she fell due to the driver setting off too quickly. Luckily a man sat in a seat right by her caught her before she did herself a serious injury.

This really makes me mad! xxx

 

[Bekkiboo]

Some of the drivers have no patience at all. I got on a bus to town last week, the driver gave me no time to get my pram in the space. He started the bus too quickly, my pram jolted forward and i nearly head butted the pole. I shouted at the driver in front of a half packed bus..,... He was a complete idiot !!!

If I had a pound for the amount of times my head has come into contact with a pole on a bus due to the driver either pulling off to quick or being overly heavy on the brakes I would be a very rich woman!

I have never yet been on a bus where the driver has waited for me to secure my pushchair before pulling off and even had one who barely waited for me to get the pushchair through the door, I had to reverse my pushchair onto the bus and the driver started to shut the doors while the pushchair was still half out the bus... I was mortified and told the driver off.... the driver threw me off the bus!

Also I think they over use the brake and could possibly be more graceful when pulling off too, I know it can be done, I've seen it done, just a lot of impatient drivers who want to get home for their tea!

 

[xJG30]

This happened to me a couple times before I got a car and I complained and got a 'travel anytime' pass sent to me, our bus drivers round here though are complete twats.

Arriva for instance are always in our local paper, my fella caught the bus the other week and this old lady (in her 70's) had one of them lil shopping basket/bag things on wheels and because she couldn't fold it down, the driver kicked her off!!

It's saddening how pathetic bus drivers are becoming.

 

[Babydance]

This happened to me a couple times before I got a car and I complained and got a 'travel anytime' pass sent to me, our bus drivers round here though are complete twats.

Arriva for instance are always in our local paper, my fella caught the bus the other week and this old lady (in her 70's) had one of them lil shopping basket/bag things on wheels and because she couldn't fold it down, the driver kicked her off!!

It's saddening how pathetic bus drivers are becoming.

OMG!!!

 

[Blah11]

Happens here too

 

[ellismum]

Its the same here. When I was preggers I used to get the bus if OH was working and borrowed my car and I don't think I ever had a smooth journey and was rarely offered a seat, even with the big bump on show. Went on once before I was fit to drive after my C Sec but it was such a pain I didn't bother. I feel sorry for those who have no choice. To be fair some instances were caused by impatient car drivers who like to cut up buses, keep coming out when the bus is pulling out from a stop.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

When I lived in London the following happened:

1. Driver stopped so that a large bin was exactly at the point where the doors opened and I couldn't get Ruby's pram off the bus. The driver refused to move the few feet it would have taken to allow me off...

2. Driver stopped so that the doors fell by a high kerb, again couldn't get off, took about 10 people screaming at him until he moved along a bit...

3. Driver shut the bus doors on me when I was getting Ruby off the bus

I complained and got a weekly bus pass sent to me

 

[charliebear]

I think I know the route your on about, not a very easy route to travel.
Your letter sounds good, hope you get a good response.

My sister complained about the service she recieved after travelling with a young baby on the 21, and they just fobbed her off!

 

[Abz1982]

I can sympathise. I have to get the bus most places, and so far only ONCE has a driver waited till I have secured the buggy before he sets off - and that is with me hurrying! Twice the bus has set off and as the buggy is not secured it has shot off and hit someone (One of whom was an elderly gentleman) - who thankfully yelled at the driver and not me. And I have also once tipped her buggy up as the bus jolted and I wasn't seated yet but holding her buggy. I know that they have a timetable to keep to, but they do seem to speed, and drive a LOT worse than a taxi driver would with a baby in his charge, and that to me is saying something. They seem to forget that a babys head will move in a buggy!!

To get them back I do take as looooong as possible to get sorted to get off the bus.

Also the bus drivers round here don't pay much attention when pulling out. In the past 3 years 2 folk - pedestrians) have been killed by buses - and on the roads that are 20 limits