Why are the general public so nasty to bus drivers.?

Question

Is it right to abuse drivers, when their are only doing their job. They have to follow rules and regulations just like anyone of us who works.

Answer 1

it is sad to say that a lot of people have forgotten that people are people with feelings and are only doing their job.   i have never experienced rude or abusive behaviour to drivers but don't doubt it happens.  i have only had good and helpful experiences particularly overseas or in a strange place.    remember it is the abusers who have the problem - don't let them get to you because that means they win.    up the drivers!  (not how it sounds)

Answer 2

my dad was a bus driver in london for 30 years

in that time he was spat at too many times to mention,threatened with a gun , a knife , hit with a crook lock ,punched on more than 1 occasion ,robbed at least 3 times for the  money in his float which was never more than 5 or 6 quid .he got sick and tired of people refusing to pay and getting verbal abuse .a car driver cut him up one time and hit the bus ,the driver then proceeded to smash the windscreen of the bus with a cricket bat

one time when he was robbed the garage manager accused dad of being an accomplice all for the amount of 5 or six quid

how he did it for so long amazed me

when i was looking for work he asked about bus driving,there was no point i would not have put up  with feral youths and pissed up idiots and general thugs and A holes .i would have been sacked the 1st time someone got gobby

he was also accused of assault after a 15 year old boy was causing trouble on the bus and dad  removed him by grabbing hes coat and marching him from the bus,the kid said dad pushed him over and dragged him by his hood off the bus

lucky the bus had cctv eh ??

Answer 3

Yes its right when bus driver is nasty to U. Last yeer when me & my mates from school were on a bus in evening we were drinking cans of beer and telling jokes which we are surely entilted to like anyone else and tosser of driver who was black stopt bus. He came down and ordered us all off the bus eventhough we had payd our fares!. He said coz we were under 16 we shudnt be drinking beer & it waz against regulations & he wudnt continue journey unless we either threw beers away or got off..There were only 3 others on bus & they didnit complayn about us but about him delaying their journey...

But we still had to walk 2 miles into town and drink our beers on way so he didnt stop us drinking but was just nasty! . Yes I was abusive and called him a w-a-n-k-e-r for violating our human rites, but my cowardley mates wudnt back me and got off, & he cud have hit me if I had refuzed to get off 2 coz he was very big so I eventuly got off to..

So I was nasty to him coz he was nasty to us!  Thats why..

Answer 4

drivers just don't give a toss

grumpy faces.... always cross

collecting money should be fun

not for our lot....... always glum

why have they no cheery faces..?

as the passengers find their places

then when getting off or on

where has the politeness gone..?

so.. if they want respect from us

....make it happy on their bus..!

Answer 5

In my experience its usually the bus drivers that are nasty to people getting on the bus. I thought it must be a prerequisite to the job.

Answer 6

because they think there ''better'' than the bus drivers

Answer 7

It is deplorable.  Wait think a moment bus drivers are not themselves always a model of courtesy and good service and I often wonder how often a driver gets a well deserved thump  

Answer 8

I have actually seen bus drivers being rude to the general public!

I don't actually use buses much any more as I prefer 2 wheels but I always use to say thanks to the driver as I left the bus.

I don't know why people are rude when they could just as easily be polite.

You know what they say... MANNERS COST NOTHING!

Answer 9

Think this question is a bit distorted. 98% of the population treat bus staff with great respect But we all know there is a yob element in the UK that is "nasty" as you put it to everyone, manifested in stabbings and verbal abuse against anybody whatsoever who fails to worship them as supreme governors of the universe. This nastiness is definitely not exclusive to bus staff who have the misfortune to have them do a trip on the bus without paying their fare or drinking cans of beer on board or whatever. Read a few other recent newspaper stories of fact in the UK which reveal Rail staff get the same, so do Teachers, so do hospital staff, so do Community Police who tell them to pick up litter they have thrown down in the street, so do members of the public who stand up against them when they vandalise their car etc. etc.

Have you not read all those news reports and many more like them?. When I was at school I was once cheejy to a bus conductor who bollocked me for misbehaving on the bus and turfed me off and made me walk and I swore at him. Then when I got to school I was summoned to the headmasters study and bollocked for "disgracing the school by swearing and misbehaving while wearing school cap", and people outside heard the familiar swishing noise repeated six times and I came oiut with a very sore bottom. When I got home that night my father, who had been notified of my misbehaviour also beat me for disgracing our family. So I learnt from my mistakes and never again misbehaved or was ever again disrespectful to adults doing their job.

So you ask WHY today?. It would appear to be due to the discontinuation of the standards of discipline that used to exist in society when I was young, but don't exist today?.  I say no more.

Answer 10

Basically because they only think about themselves and don't appreciate what it takes to drive a large vehicle.

Having done onboard surveys on a bus and seen how much room the driver needs to turn, it certainly changed my attitude and now I give them the room they need, the same with lorry drivers.

I would suggest that the driving test should include a lesson as a passenger in a PCV / HGV to appreciate it.

Answer 11

I used to drive buses around the Manchester areas and some of the passengers treated you like dirt. So many people think that because you drive a bus, you are educationally sub-normal.

On open days when members of the public could drive a bus, they saw how a demanding job it can be.  

When you are sat behind that wheel you become a non-person.

Answer 12

I am only rude to Bus Driver(s) when they are rude to me - there is one who swears at me on a regular basis when I get on the bus (there is no other bus/service from where I live to where I work, and I don't drive due to ill health).  Before anyone says why don't I complaijn to the company he works for, I HAVE on a regular basis but they don't care.

Answer 13

I don't know where you live but where I am I've never heard or seen anyone being nasty to a bus driver.. And I am very nice to the driver on the bus I travel on regularly :D

Answer 14

I'm afraid that manners have gone out of the window in the UK.

Answer 15

This must be in some city centre, we have no problem here in Northumberland, however this whole attitude goes with the present method of dealing with an argument with a knife and the aggressive attitude that is now prevalent on the roads.

Answer 16

I think it just depends on where you are. I drove buses for about 3.5 years and found that the vast majority of people were fine unless you were running late, and then you would find everyone's personality changes - like it's YOUR fault!

"Where've you been?" was the most common question! "You're late!" was another - and used to REALLY annoy me! To the first question I would usually give the customer a full, detailed description of the routes I had been on so far that day and in response to the second statement I would reply "Am I? Oh thank you for letting me know! I'll fly OVER the traffic queues tomorrow shall I?"

Once you have been doing a route regularly and know the passengers well you can really have some banter with them and come back with "well I wouldn't be late if people like you didn't keep moaning at me for 5 minutes!"

Like I say, generally, depending on where you work, and how you are with the passengers, most are fine, but you will always get idiots who just want and arguement - I used to be as over-polite as possible when someone was actually abusive - that would really annoy them - especially if they wanted you to react!

When our company started covering new areas - the places no other bus companies wanted to cover! - that was when the problems started - again vast majority fine, but too many druggies or drunks, come on threatening, refusing to pay, smoking on board etc. Been spat a few times, and told that I was gonna be "hunted down" unfortunately it's "part of the job" as far as employers are concerned! Had Air pistols shot and bricks thrown at the windows / windscreen - that's pretty scary - and cold in the winter!

To be honest, the worst passengers of all, were under 16 years old!

Answer 17

Hi,

Its a bit like   Give way to a bus ...  

Your leaving a gap in front  for the old girl to slow down steadily and some idiot cuts you up  because he thinks you have got brakes as good as him

I would like to see those  verbal abusers,  sit in the hot chair on a private school run ....   they would see themselves in a different light

People dont realise if they got them selfs orgainised with money and passes,  it helps to keep the bus on time

I hate the people,   YOUR LATE,  as they fumble for there change or havent got there pass at hand !!

  

Answer 18

I always try to be polite to bus drivers, but I hardly ever use busses

No it is not right for people to be abusive to drivers. As you say, they are only doing their job