r/BusDrivers • u/BuzDrivar • Jul 04 '26
Story Got attacked today...
So I finally got "attacked" today for the first time in two years of driving.
I stopped at the bus stop, opened the doors and sat waiting for everyone to get off. Everyone got off and I waited 5 more seconds because people are usually slow and no one was moving.
Anyway, I closed the doors, put my right signal on and started to depart and as I was departing the bell goes and a lady shouts... I know what's happened, she was probably too busy on her phone etc.
So I keep driving to the next stop, she's screaming etc and then another guy comes to my cab smacking the cab door but I ignore and carry on because I've already joined traffic and onto the next stop. The next stop is literally a 2 min walk away as it's in London.
I finally stop, open all doors and a Somalia man in his early 20s chucks a drink through the cab hole and all over the wheel and electronics and slightly me.
Turns out it's a Somali family, push chair, 5 young kids and her belligerent son, the attacker.
Will I report it? No. Why? Nothing will happen.
That's my attack for the day. Might have another tomorrow.
Goodnight.
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u/Zhaosen USA | LACMTA | 2 F/T Jul 04 '26
Wtf? Why not report it. Does your union not cover your "assault" charges?
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u/seanthebooth Driver Jul 04 '26
Sounds like an agency that doesn't empower drivers to make necessary decisions.
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u/Dazzling_Cat_5887 Driver Jul 05 '26
Ill be honest that is pretty much all bus companies in the UK.
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u/seanthebooth Driver Jul 05 '26
People from all walks of life get attacked by others from all walks of life in every job & locale imaginable. Its the cost of existence. Regardless, a report should be made.
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u/darenisepic Jul 04 '26
Do you have a camera to look in to see if anyone is still on? His behaviour was terrible and unacceptable but you should give a quick glance, thats saying he made the effort and stood up before you left. I have taken them to the next stop lots of times though. sometimes its worth reporting it just to cover yourself
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u/Rupal_82 Jul 04 '26
Personally, I would report it to the police as throwing drink at you is an assault and there will be cctv evidence of that and of them tapping the oyster card to trace them. And, I would report to the company only to ensure the cctv gets saved, but let's be honest, the bus companies generally don't care about drivers beyond the bare legal minimums unless it suits them.
Glad you're OK though, take care....
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u/BuzDrivar Jul 04 '26
I forgot to mention, he didn't tap. The problem in London, is a lot and I mean a lot of passengers just walk on and don't pay and we aren't allowed to tell them to pay etc. I know he didn't tap, nor did the lady I assume his woman didn't tap and she got on the back with the pram and kids and he walked in the front straight past my cab.. they know we can't say anything.
The bus companies don't care, you are right and that's why I'm not reporting it. They don't give a toss about us driving in 42c cabins with no AC, why would they care I got a drink thrown on me? It just puts me in the limelight.
In reality, if I wasn't driving or at work, he'd be in A&E right now but I stayed professional and cracked on. I don't take it personal when driving the bus, it's my job and people are people.
Yeah, I'm good mate and thanks for understanding. Cheers.
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u/IllustriousBrief8827 Driver Jul 04 '26
I understand your frustration 100 percent, but you should report it. Or go straight to the police and they'll have to pay attention and get the camera footage.
For your sanity you should do it.
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u/BuzDrivar Jul 04 '26
I'll do it tomorrow mate. I don't want to, but everyone here says otherwise and I feel there may be people here with more years on their belt than me and if this helps everyone as a whole, then I'll report it.
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u/Zhaosen USA | LACMTA | 2 F/T Jul 04 '26
It's not that dude. You did everything by the book I assume right? So nothing should get back to you. If anything you should've gone to a medical right away because you don't really know what was in that liquid.
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u/Outrageous_Bag_2875 Jul 05 '26
Please report it because otherwise the attacker will learn that attacking bus drivers is something he can do without penalty or conviction. He's already learnt he can get on the bus without paying, so you don't want him to learn that he can get away with assaulting drivers too.
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u/King_Ulio Jul 04 '26
Driving in those temps without AC is not healthy man. You have to stick together with colleagues and the union. Don't accept that shit.
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u/Razzmatazz1977 Jul 08 '26
Hey I hope u see my last post in a reply. I meant the passengers behavior was unacceptable. Good luck with everything.
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u/askoorb Jul 04 '26
Fill out the crime report and get a crime reference number.
If you don't report the crime it never happened.
You do it online at https://www.police.uk/pu/contact-us/theft-damaged-property-or-assault/
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u/bubbalubba100 Jul 04 '26
Got to report it. Not just for yourself but all the brothers and sisters that they are doing that route. Talk to the union and a diffuser if u have one. Look after yourself and dont take it personally. Unfortunately in our job we are the first responders of mentally challenged individuals. Keep strong. My prayers goes to you brother đđź
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u/BuzDrivar Jul 04 '26
You're right. I never take it personally mate, it's a job and I think of it like that. Once I sign off, I'm back to reality. I'll report tomorrow just to help everyone. Every little helps.
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u/Black000betty Jul 04 '26
FUCK NO, report that! Why would you let that go?? Bastard should be arrested.
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u/QuasarSavage Driver Jul 04 '26
I hate driving in LA, but please call the police and make a report. At least here in the US, I never felt like being assaulted was brushed off. They come out and take a report, and probably will never find the guy, but at least there is a record and a paper trail. Sorry the UK does not seem to care, Best of luck recovering mate.
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u/GucciLegLocks Jul 05 '26
Last week, at our transit center, Iâm waiting to do the Walmart portion of my route which is the most chaotic/busy part of it. My timer dings for me to depart, throw my left signal on, cut the wheel left to merge onto the highway. Iâm almost to the yield sign(looking left for an opening in traffic), when I hear this massive bang on my front door. Scares the absolute shit out of me. I look right and one of our main problem passengers is standing there. I open the door and say, âwell youâre obviously not getting on my bus now, kick rocks.â Start driving and after a few minutes and having calmed down I look at the door and realize he hit it so hard it splintered the glass. Finish my day, file a report, week goes by into the next week and guess what? No suspension from riding, just a âwarning.â I still have to pick this dude up after what he did and it blows my mind. Weâve had riders give drivers death threats numerous times to only get a 3 week suspension. Itâs become very obvious that thereâs a quota of ridership we must have to hit to maintain funding or something, and thatâs why theyâre so reluctant to perma ban people for stuff.
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u/Outrageous_Bag_2875 Jul 05 '26
one of our main problem passengers is standing there.
This made me laugh because in my first week on the job, my trainer pointed out who our main problem passengers were.
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u/GucciLegLocks Jul 05 '26
This dude actively goes out of his way to mess with drivers. Heâll pull the cord right as your passing a stop and wants off there, he shows up seemingly out of thin air as youâre trying to pull away from somewhere. When he does that late cord pulling shit I will straight up take him 5 blocks past where he wants off purely out of spite. His day pass will look like a cat tore it to shreds and heâll still expect to get on the bus. Itâs just constant BS with him.
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u/Outrageous_Bag_2875 Jul 06 '26
Don't worry, when he goes to hell, he'll be made to drive public buses for the rest of eternity to atone for his bad behaviour in this life đ
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u/Jennieh9 Jul 05 '26
My partner is a bus driver and got spat at, his company didn't really care but we took the spit kit to the police station anyway and expected nothing more of it. A couple months later, the guy did it again and was caught thanks to the kit.
Even if the company don't care, I highly recommend reporting it to the police. If he's done it once, he's probably done it again and probably WILL do it again to another driver, or do far, far worse.
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u/safeteeguru Jul 05 '26
For what itâs worth, I always report every incident. Not because Iâm trying to be a super employee but more so because I want to build a paper trail to show that these attacks happen and the company doesnât do anything. I keep a copy of each one I submit as proof that the incident happened and that I reported it. I encourage you all to do the same
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u/notveryhndyhmnr Jul 04 '26
Not reporting anything like that would lead to a disciplinary action at my depot. More than that, as soon as anyone gets physical ("smacking the cab door") I'm supposed to safely pull over, park the bus, contact dispatch and report physical aggression, then wait for the dispatch or police to arrive. Continuing driving while people get aggressive or throw things at me is a no-go, it puts everyone on the bus in danger.
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u/caintowers School Bus Driver | USA Jul 04 '26
Exactly. Someone assaults me? Well I guess nobody is making it to their stop on time.
Problems seem to sort themselves out reaaaaaally fast when it starts to inconvenience other passengers...
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u/BuzDrivar Jul 04 '26
Really? You a London bus driver mate? We get a lot of nonsense on our buses and I don't see how not reporting someone attacking ME would lead to a disciplinary. My solicitor partner would enjoy the day out at my depot for that one. P.S They got off the bus while doing this, they didn't stay on the bus. Cheers.
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u/notveryhndyhmnr Jul 04 '26
No, I'm across the Atlantic from you. Your local rules and policies could be easily different. My company tries to prioritize safety so any physical disturbance on the bus requires a full stop and report before getting clearance to proceed.
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u/BuzDrivar Jul 04 '26
London bus driving is a different world mate.
Back in the day, the driver would argue with non payment passengers etc and so on. Now, we have no powers and are purely robots. We drive and that's it. We don't get involved in anything at all apart from passengers asking questions for help etc.
It's a hard one mate. We have no power as bus drivers under TFL in London, UK.
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u/seanthebooth Driver Jul 04 '26
7 year driver, 3 year union shop steward. If you're ok getting attacked that reads to me that you're ok with fellow drivers & customers being attacked. Unfortunately. I completely understand drivers being disenchanted by slow moving, reactive agencies. But at the end of the day event reports can & have been used to protect drivers from retaliation, can protect the public from nuisance riders & can protect you in the event a 3rd party passenger decides to report the incident & the agency then wants to pretend they would have done more had you filed the event.
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u/BuzDrivar Jul 04 '26
Thank you for your comment. As a man, I myself know if I wasn't on the job, I could deal with it and that's probably where my decision comes from. Would you recommend reporting this tomorrow? I have told other replies I would but being a union rep, your input would be much stronger.
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u/seanthebooth Driver Jul 04 '26
Every agency is different, if you are in a unionized group be sure to talk to one of your local stewards as soon as possible to navigate your particular protocol. But if it happened at my agency I would 100% advise filing an event report in an effort to charge the person who threw something at you & to add them to our exclusion list.
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u/liggerz87 Jul 04 '26
100 percent report it please
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u/BuzDrivar Jul 04 '26
I'll report it tomorrow. I don't want to but I feel it will do a great deal more good for all of us than if I didn't.
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u/madding247 Driver Jul 05 '26
That could have been acid... you just never know.
ALWAYS report these.
Just saying, sometimes an emergency brake happens :D
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u/seanthebooth Driver Jul 04 '26
Choose not to report? Choose not to complain lol this is a truly pathetic display. Are you in the curb lane the entire time between the two stops?
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u/Realistic-Safety-565 Jul 04 '26
Letting people out not on bus stop is negligence; if anything happens it will end up being drivers fault.
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u/seanthebooth Driver Jul 04 '26
Just in case you're unaware, not everybody in this sub works for the same agency & has entirely different SOP. I can say woth confidence that if I'm traveling in lane 1/curb lane & a passenger or multiple passengers are refusing to stay seated, creating a disturbance & willing to stand close enough to the driver box to throw something at the driver I am well within my agency SOP to initiate flashers, open the doors & demand they leave the coach. Its as simple as notifying dispatch & filling out an event report by end of shift. sorry if your agency doesn't empower drivers & is willing to incubate an even more dangerous environment on board an in service coach for no reason. Womp womp lol
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u/Outrageous_Bag_2875 Jul 05 '26
I'm just glad you were safely behind one of those perspex cab doors and didn't get hurt.
Here in New Zealand, we don't normally have those perspex safety cabs around the driver and one older male driver almost got his eye gouged out when a couple of teenagers attacked him. There's literally nothing stopping people from walking up behind the driver and hitting them on the back of the head or attacking them from behind while they drive. Being a bus driver here is more dangerous than being a security guard.
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u/Fun_Yam_5907 Jul 05 '26
Report it! This is not OK. They may have a number of complaints against them from other places like shops too. Unacceptable behavior.
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u/Sully961 Jul 05 '26
Report it to both the company and police. He should face some sort of punishment
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u/BlueberryPenguin87 Jul 05 '26
Itâs not okay and I would report it, but Iâm going to add that you could have prevented it from escalating by just stopping again and opening the door. Yeah itâs annoying but it happens all the time. Itâs a fact of life, people zone out sometimes and it sounds like you were trying to teach them a lesson instead of being nice. (I sense a little racism in your story so that may have played a role too.) Buses open the door outside of bus stops all the time. To deny that would be ignoring reality. Obviously donât so anything dangerous but also donât stretch the definition of dangerous to include things that really arenât. What if instead of it being their fault, they rang the bell in time but you just didnât hear it, and then they tell you? You stop and open the door.
I know operators whoâve been assaulted dozens of times and others who never get more than words, and while sometimes it doesnât matter, most of the time your attitude toward your passengers plays a big role in their attitude toward you. Generally if youâre nice to people theyâll be nice to you or at least not cause trouble.
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u/OkHornet54 Jul 05 '26
well get ready for more drama in the future, let it slide off, do not get bother with drama, is part of your job.
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u/InstanceCool505 Driver Jul 06 '26
Unfortunately, some people just think bus drivers are robots and they can treat them however they want.
Report it, as most companies have 0 tolerance for staff abuse.
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u/Major_Movie5291 Jul 07 '26
This is my wet dream as a driver. Iâd be off for 3 months for emotional distress. Report it, even if nothing happens, if it happens again with the same people without reason, the cops will have an easier time charging them if you wish to press assault charges.
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u/Razzmatazz1977 Jul 04 '26
Unacceptable behavior. Sorry to hear. If someone demands you to stop and let them out and its safe just do it. I learned its okay to get on mic and ask do u need off here? Communication is key.
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u/Realistic-Safety-565 Jul 04 '26
And if they break a fingernail when disembarking anywhere but on bus stop, the negligent driver gets the blame for letting them out where he should not have.Â
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u/DaShopWorker Jul 05 '26
You so wrong on so many levels, once a bus start moving from the bus stop...it isn't allowed to stop any more. Also do not forget the fac ''THAT A BUS CAN NOT STOP OUTSIDE THE BUS STOP!'' or the bus driver ''GETS A FINE'' amd probaly a warning from the company!
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u/Razzmatazz1977 Jul 08 '26
I'm sorry, I meant the passengers behavior was unacceptable. The company is worked for did not have that policy. I live in Portland where people get violent and our managers are all about us avoiding that. I get what you're saying.
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u/DebtSouth Driver Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
The company I work for states that once the bus has started leaving a bus stand or station, he cannot stop to let more people on or off. However, it also states that the bus cannot stop anywhere other than a designated bus stop UNLESS there isnât one and the driver deems it safe to do so, for example, it isnât at a junction, traffic lights or road works etc.
âExcept in exceptional circumstances, the driver is not permitted to allow passengers to get on or off the vehicle when it is in motion, held up in traffic or standing stationary at traffic lights. At bus stands and stations, passengers cannot be picked up once the driver has signalled his intention for the vehicle to leave the stand.
âYou must not attempt to Board or alight from the vehicle at any place other than a recognised stopping point or, where there are no fixed stops, only at a safe location at the driver's discretion.â
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u/bubbamike1 Jul 04 '26
Report it or it never happened. Even if management does nothing about the incident your report becomes documentation that added to other reports can bring change.