The new bus driver is horrible
@shaggin (71664)
United States
March 15, 2012 8:45am CST
The usual bus driver is sick and wont be back for a few weeks. The fill in bus driver is awful.
Every single day he starts driving before my daughter has a chance to sit down and she has to stand up all the way to the school in the aisles. Not only is that wrong for any child to have to stand up in the aisle but she was born with nystagmus which gives her depth perception problems. She cannot balance as well as other kids and if she falls ...and gets hurt because he drives with her standing up there will be a big problem.
I said nicely today could he please make sure the kids are all sitting before driving because I do not want her standing in the aisle all the way to the school. He nastily said he cant wait in the driveway with other buses waiting and that they keep trying to go farther and farther back to get a seat. I said that the other kids wont move over to let them sit plus there have been plenty of days where no one is in the high school driveway and he still takes off with them standing in the aisles.
He said he will go to the school about it I said fine. I'm waiting for a call back from the principal and if it continues tomorrow every single day that he is driving I will get on that bus with the kids and find them a seat. Then he will have to wait until I get off to drive. Mama is furious!!!!
2 people like this
8 responses
@inertia4 (27961)
• United States
15 Mar 12
I would just call the school or go there myself and make a major complaint against the bus driver. And I would call the bus company as well and make a complaint about him. I would not let him get away with that. If he is really nasty like you said, he is putting the kids in danger by driving like that. And if I'm not mistaken, all the kids should be seat belted in anyway.
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
10 Apr 12
Well the temporary bus driver is gone now. The kids were given assigned seats when that bus driver was driving. Just my neice and my nephew and my daughter though. My daughter and I liked it because there was always a seat reserved for them to have a place to sit and not have to look for a seat. But now that the regular bus driver is back the assigned seats arent going to stay there so my daughter came home crying that she would have to stand in the aisles and find a seat again. I told her if that happened I would just drive her to school from now on.
1 person likes this
@inertia4 (27961)
• United States
15 Apr 12
Well, that's not fair. But you might just have to drive her to school. I would do that for my kids if I could. It makes it much better for them. But if you think that's bad where you are, you have to see how they drive here and how many school buses are here as well. It's like a mad house.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
15 Apr 12
Fortunately I live very close to the school so if my daughter misses the bus or doesnt want to ride the bus and wants me to drive her it really isnt a burden. It takes about 1 minute or so to drive her to the elementary school lol. So far she hasent complained but I have noticed the bus has been very packed with kids and I'm guessing soon she will probably complain about it. When she does I will drive her its no big deal.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
15 Mar 12
In our country most of the school buses here have an assistant to the driver who takes care of everything else the driver cannot, from seeing to it that the kids are seated, to holding them and even going down first with an umbrella when it's raining and sees to it that your child is already inside the gate or house before the bus leaves. He or she is usually a person the kids respect and love. Yes I really think you should do something drastic for your child especially if he or she has a handicap and that ...
driver does not want to listen to reason.
driver does not want to listen to reason.1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
15 Mar 12
That is wonderful that your school most of the buses have an assistant to help on the bus. I think that would be really the best way to do things but unfortunately they would have to hire another person and they wouldnt want to hire all those people to ride the bus so all the responsibility for the kids is put on the bus driver. I wouldnt want that having all those kids to look after and drive at the same time. But this driver wasent having to deal with my daughter being a problem at all it was just him not waiting for her to sit down and mad that I said something.
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
16 Mar 12
Ok stay with your child while I drive the bus
, that is after we kick out the driver lol!( just kidding), I just can't understand why some people could become so insensitive to other people's need and won't listen to reason, it's like just this is my work and this is what I get paid for, "no extras lady", It's your turn to be insensitive to he's needs when you report him to proper authorities
, that is after we kick out the driver lol!( just kidding), I just can't understand why some people could become so insensitive to other people's need and won't listen to reason, it's like just this is my work and this is what I get paid for, "no extras lady", It's your turn to be insensitive to he's needs when you report him to proper authorities1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
17 Mar 12
My nephew at the end of the day stood up as the bus was coming to a stop so he could be the first one to get off. The guy was mad because of me saying something earlier and probably getting told that allowing the students to ride in the aisles standing up because he wont wait for them to sit down is illegal.... anyway when my nephew did this the bus driver screamed at him. So when my nephew got off the bus he was all upset. I felt bad. This guy is just horrible.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
17 Mar 12
I would be mad too. I was irritated when the bus my daughter rode became overcrowded and children were having to stand. She would come home everyday with a story about a little one that had almost fallen and she give them her seat. It got to the point where mine was standing all the time too. I must have been joined in my anger because it wasn't long before they assigned two buses to the area and split the children. I think little ones should be on a bus of their own anyway..it worked out good. I actually called the bus center itself because the school just contracts the service and sometimes you can get a quicker response from the actual company that is contracted by the school.
Good luck and I hope they work that out. It's dangerous for kids to have to stand.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
18 Mar 12
What happens is because we live on the road that takes the kids to the school when the bus stops to pick up my daughter, neice and nephew the other buses have to stop and wait. It can back the traffic up on the hill and its a blind corner so its a worry that they will get rear ended. Apparently the buses behind complain to the bus driver in front. If they are so worried about the buses piling up then they should have put the 3 kids on the last bus that goes through so that wouldnt happen. My daughter will NOT stand in the aisle because of their stupidity. They now assigned the 3 kids an assigned seat so they will not have to stand in the aisle anymore. It is illegal for a student to be standing on the bus. The driver can be fined and lose his licence and the school could be sued if something happened that the child was injured.
@Nadinest1 (2016)
• Canada
15 Mar 12
I wouldn't wait for a call back from the school.....I would call them right now. Kids cannot stand in the isles, it is unsafe...and sooner or later, she is going to smash her face into the floor. I would think this would be a rule anyway. My kid's bus driver waits until he is sitting before he takes off.
Be a B$%ch if you need to be for the safety of your child.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
16 Mar 12
Well I called the principal first thing but he was busy so I had to wait for him to call me back. He called back a few hours later. He said that the guy in charge of buses was going to give the kids assigned seats. I was totally fine with that because they can have a seat to sit in where they wont have to stand in the aisles. Well when my daughter got home she told me they are the only kids on the bus who have an assigned seat and they feel singeled out as if they are bad kids when they arent. They also have my niece, nephew and my daughter squished in one bus seat. My nephew is bigger then I am thats a lot of kids to put in one seat. I will have to look at the bus laws and see if 3 to a seat is ok. If not I am going to call and be complaining again.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Mar 12
We've been lucky with Kathryn's bus driver that she has had since she was in first grade. She is able to catch the bus in the morning and find a seat, despite the fact that her morning bus stop is the next to last stop before they get to the school. She also has an easy time getting off of the bus in the afternoon.
Here, I don't think that the bus drivers are permitted to move the bus until the children are all seated.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
23 Mar 12
Oh they arent allowed to do that here either. It is illegal for them to drive when a student is standing. Its not like the kids were standing up in the seat after he started driving. My daughter was standing in the aisle trying to find a seat while he was driving. It really made me mad so after 2 weeks I finally said something and was nice about it and he gave me a nasty attitude. The kids have assigned seats now and its working well.
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
16 Mar 12
Bus drivers are in charge of the safety of our children until they reach the destination of the school. 'as a parent i can deeply sympathasize with your plight. I not only would be calling the school to report this bus driver's behavior but I am sure that I would make a trip to the school as well. You have every right to be furious and angry about this situation. Every child's life is important. School officials need to handle this situation before something happens that can not be taken back. good luck to you.1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
17 Mar 12
Well I called the principal but he was busy so the secretary had to have him call me back. I hated waiting as I was so mad about this bus drivers attitude but its good because I was able to calm down and think of what I should say when he did finally call me back. My niece, daughter, and nephew all have an assigned seat now. So although they feel singeled out since they are the only kids to have to sit in an assigned seat I am just happy that my daughter will have a seat to sit in now!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
15 Mar 12
I'm no mother myself but we have drivers like this. Sometimes I cannot understand why they have the job because it's obvious they don't like it. Plenty more would want to fill his shoes I'm sure.
I hope this gets resolved for you, I really do.
1 person likes this
@ajk111 (2495)
•
15 Mar 12
that is pretty ignorant of the driver. Can you complain to the school? You stand your ground as you are well in the right.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
If he get nasty let me know and i'll slip my boxers on over my trousers, don my "superdad" cape on and fly across the atlantic and bop him on the nose!
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
15 Mar 12
I got a call back from the principle who told me the kids would be given assigned seats. I was fine with this knowing at least the kids would have somewhere to sit and not have to stand up. I talked to my kids uncle who drives buses and he said that him driving while the kids are standing up is illegal.
