B.C. bus driver suspended after video of 'kidnapping' posted online

[key2thecup]

B.C. bus driver suspended after video of 'kidnapping' posted online

Two B.C. bus drivers are being accused of behaving badly, including one who kicked a mother and her three children off a bus in Victoria and another who allegedly "kidnapped" his passengers in Kamloops in a confrontation caught on video.

BC Transit spokeswoman Meribeth Burton says the company is investigating the Victoria incident, in which a woman filed a complaint claiming she was booted from the bus because the driver thought her family was making too much noise.

The mother boarded the bus Tuesday with her infant son and two other children on a trip from Esquimalt to the University of Victoria.

Fellow passenger Karita Del Moral said the driver asked the mother to keep the noise down, even though it wasn't disruptive. "He finally said, `you can get off the bus...this if your stop, you're going to get off' and kicked her off the bus with her three children," she said.

The mother left the bus in tears, said Del Moral.

Burton said the actions of the driver were not the policy of BC Transit.

"Families, babies, children are warmly welcomed on BC Transit and if someone wasn't following BC Transit policy or conduct of which we expect from our drivers then that will be an internal investigation and we'll deal with it," said Burton.

In a separate incident, Burton said BC Transit has suspended a Kamloops driver with pay after an video posted on YouTube titled Transit Driver Kidnaps Passengers showed a male and female passenger yelling at a driver to let them out after he apparently missed their stop.

Burton said the driver is being investigated for allegations he didn't follow disembarking protocols.

"Management here at BC Transit has watched the YouTube video and we're very concerned with what we see and hear," said Burton.

"There is a high degree of professionalism that we expect at all times," she said, regardless of the challenging situations they might encounter each day.

The video, posted by TrueLiesCanada, captures the incident after the confrontation had already begun. It records a female passenger yelling at the driver for missing her bus stop.

"This is public transit, all I want to do is be able to get off at my stop!" she says.

http://bc.ctvnews.ca...6#ixzz2EK7a8sgA

[Where's Wellwood]

"This is public transit, all I want to do is be able to get off at my stop!" she says

[nux4lyfe]

He must of had to go to the bathroom badly.

[Rink on Renfrew]

The one with the mother & kids fair enough, a little noise is no reason to kick a family off a bus. If you're a bus driver you should be excellent at tuning unwanted noise out, it's a part of the job.

The "Kidnapping" one. Get a life people, throwing the word kidnap around is offensive to anyone who's truly been held against their will for a long duration. It seems to me with everyone having a camera now people are almost looking for these situations, the see you in court confirms that. Ya you miss a stop or two, let's cost society $5000+

[Opmac]

That's all she said over and over and over again. It degraded to whining pretty soon. That said, did the bus driver miss one stop or two? b/c if he just missed one, what stops the lady from just getting off at the next one? If he missed two, after she had already alerted him that he missed one, then that's a different story.

Also the guy at the end recording who goes, "This conversation was recorded. We'll see you in court." or something to that effect, needs to re-evaluate his options. Court isn't the answer because the bus driver missed a stop or two. Missing a stop isn't the end of the world.

The driver was stopping them from leaving when the bus finally stopped because the lady wouldn't calm down. The guy, before he mentioned court, seemed to be dealing with it calmly and rationally.

All in all, this whole thing is blown way out of proportion for what this is.

[canuckster19]

A bus driver has a legal obligation to only let passengers on or off at bus stops, of course not all adhere to this rule, but they should for if anything were to happen during an unscheduled stop, the bus driver would be held liable. I can't tell whether or not they were at a stop, but if they weren't then the driver has every right to not open the doors. The bus driver also has a legal obligation to safely operate the vehicle and obviously can not do so when being confronted to this degree.

[Sugar baby watermelon]

more negative publicity for BC Transit, I had a supposed altercation with a translink driver a week ago and he was a driver with a chip on his shoulder, i made an online complaint and a over the phone complaint, the next morning that bus driver was being talked to by his superviser and two translink officers whom I also spoke with and they heard my story and his and will be reviewing the video footage from the morning of the supposed altercation. It goes either way, sometimes you get great bus drivers and sometimes not so great. they may remove him from the route I normally take if so I am happy. The whole thing left a sick feeling in my stomach and I told them that if nothing was done about this then I may just have to go to 24 hours or Global BC hence the fast response.

[Mr. White]

What an ***hole

[RiCHC3]

Sounds like they're completely milking this story. We don't know the full details on the missed stop situation and I've personally witnessed countless times where people buzz in far too late for a stop or take way too long to get out.

With that said, I have seen (far less frequently) a case where the driver misses the stop completely, but usually slows down after to let them off after the complaint. The rest of the time they wait till the next stop.