Article: Drivers despair of the ongoing abuse from aggressive patrons ...

[ozbob]

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Drivers despair of the ongoing abuse from aggressive patrons on Brisbane buses

Drivers despair of the ongoing abuse from aggressive patrons on Brisbane buses

    by: Angela Ranke, Southern Star
    From: Quest Newspapers
    May 01, 2012 12:01AM

Physical and verbal attacks on bus drivers are so common many are not bothering to report it, according to the bus union.

David Matters, secretary of the bus section of the Rail, Bus and Tram Union, said the union received about two complaints a month, but the problem was seriously under-reported.

"When it was a rare event it became something for us, for everyone, to get to know about," he said.

"But when it's not a rare event it's a common thing and people aren't bothering to report it."

The assaults range from verbal abuse to physical assaults including passengers hitting, spitting and throwing objects at drivers.

Most people did the right thing, but a minority were causing great harm, Mr Matters said.

"It's important that the community stop these people because the amount of economic and physical damage this causes is enormous," he said.

Mr Matters said he knew of at least a dozen drivers in the past 20 years who had been left disabled and unable to work after being attacked.

A TransLink spokesman said security guards and police regularly patrolled the transport network, and most buses were fitted with personal attack alarms.

Public and Active Transport chairman Julian Simmonds said council's safety initiatives had led to a 39 per cent decrease in incidents from the 09/10 financial year.

"We have a range of safety measures for drivers in place, including CCTV cameras, anti-shatter windows and security screens, and these along with training has meant Brisbane bus drivers are as safe and secure as possible," Councillor Simmonds said.

Transport Minister Scott Emerson said the State Government would investigate ways to boost driver safety.

"Anyone caught affecting the ability of public transport staff to do their job will be severely dealt with," he said.

Mr Matters said the union wanted pop-up screens to protect drivers and tougher penalties for offenders.

[justanotheruser]

I am not for one second condoning violence against anyone. however many bus drivers leave alot to be desired. i have spent 20 years in customer service roles and have received endless stupid questions and heard the same jokes told over and over again. (Why people think they are the only ones to think of these lame jokes is beyond me) You know what though? I still offer service with a smile and remain polite to customers. Even after copping verbal abuse I still smile and warmly greet the next customer. Bus drivers more often than not are grumpy. The ones in Ipswich certainly need educating about people with a disability. I was teaching a person how to catch public transport. Along with their disability they also had an anxiety disorder. So the first day I made them signal the bus we had to catch when they got on and asked the driver does this bus go to eastern heights how did the driver respond? "Is this the one you normally get?" in a very abrupt manner. That bus driver doesn't know just how lucky he is. That person has in the past assaulted a bus driver for similar comments and it was a very serious assault requiring a steel plate to be inserted and stitches. People always want to make excuses as to why bus drivers may get grumpy but yet we don't extend that same courtesy to people in retail who are never allowed to have a bad moment!
the number of times I've gotten on a bus and warmly greeted the driver with a good morning/afternoon just to get a grunt in reply if I actually get a reply instead of just a sour look.
In security training I received years ago it was said if you remain calm with a aggressive person they usually calm down very quickly. I agree that it is not always the case but in 20 years there have only been a couple of times when it has not been the case. One ofthose occasions was when a persons disability claim went missing. I certainly could understand why he was upset. (I was still polite despite the angry phone calls he made every 10 minutes.)
So come on bus drivers make sure you are polite and always helpful just like retail staff have to be and that will help solve a substantial part of the problem I'm sure.