[Disclaimer]

Throughout the past 8 years of living in Winchester, I have used Stagecoach as my primary means of travel around the city. Using their services to get to work, to go shopping, to take my kids to school and pick them up and even go out on day trips.

As a frequent user of Stagecoach’s services, I have noticed a growing trend of disregard for the safety of their passengers over the past couple of years. On more than one occasion the driver has injured my children; myself or other passengers due to carelessness.

If you are a reader of my blog and have followed my writing for some time, you would know that this is not the first time Stagecoach have hurt either my family or myself. Approximately a year ago, I made a formal complaint against one of the drivers because he pulled away in haste and my daughter, Chloé, who was 2 years old at the time, fell over and hurt herself. If I had not of reacted as quick as I did, I would have fell over and landed on her, which would have caused significant injuries.

Today, at approximately 8:30am I got onto the number 1 bus to Harestock with Chloé on our way to school. As I got about half way down the gangway with Chloé just in front of me, the bus pulled away rather quickly and Chloé fell over and landed onto the steps near the rear of the bus hurting herself. I stumbled and nearly fell over as well.

This is the problem with Stagecoach in Winchester. It seems that once the passenger has either showed a pass or paid money, they are no longer the drivers concern. During the winter when it is snowing seems to be the worst time of the year, especially with the old and frail bus users. The floor becomes soaked in water, making it slippery. To navigate this properly one would need a bus that is stationary until seated.

Unluckily for Stagecoach, I have reached the end of my tether. I am sick and tired of my children being hurt by incompetent drivers. I have written a formal letter to a person, who I believe, is in charge of the Winchester Stagecoach bus station, named Richard Tyldsley.

My letter is as follows;

Dear Mr. Richard Tyldsley

This morning at roughly 0829 my daughter and myself boarded the number 1 Harestock bus with bus number 36015. Shortly after boarding, the driver pulled away in haste causing my daughter to fall against the steps inside the bus and hurt herself. Luckily she was not badly hurt. I quickly grabbed her after stumbling myself and carried her to our seats where we promptly sat down.

As you may or may not be aware, this time last year I made the exact same complaint to you, not to mention the many complaints I have made to whom ever was on duty inside the bus station over the past couple of months for complaints of the same nature.

The issue of the drivers pulling away before all passengers have sat, old or young, has not been resolved. Many a time have I come off of a Stagecoach bus bleeding or aching from bashing my knee as the driver pulls away before I have sat down.

If Stagecoach continue to not enforce a good practice when passengers are boarding, it will only be a matter of time before someone is seriously injured and matters go much further than a simple letter!

I will be passing this letter onto my MP in hope that he will be able to expedite matters, as this is a growing concern for safety for the general public and not just myself.

Yours sincerely,

David Miller

CC : Steve Brine MP

View my original letter on Google Docs

As you may have noticed from the contents of the letter, I have also given a copy of this letter to my local MP, Steve Brine, in hope that he can help me get this issue sorted and with an appropriate result.

The type of result I am looking for is not one of dismissal, but rather one of resolution. The drivers need to be reminded and trained to remember that the passenger is their number one priority. A lot of parents and elderly people use their services, meaning that they may take a moment to get on the bus, pay or present passes, find a seat and sit down safely.

I am pretty competent on my feet as a 26-year-old, but as soon as the bus starts to move, that’s it, if I’m not holding on tight I will be falling over and hurting myself. Now, imagine for a second how a child of three or an elderly gentleman of 80 were to be in the same situation, there is almost no doubt about it, they would most likely be hurt in the driver’s haste to get away and back on the move to pick up more passengers.

If you have ever been in an accident with Stagecoach or another bus company in similar circumstances, what are your thoughts on the matter? What actions should be taken by Stagecoach and others to prevent future occurrences of this?