School Bus Hell

To Whom it May Concern,

I would like to file a formal complaint against L**** S*****, a bus driver working for L***** bus line. Today I went to pick up my children at their regular bus stop after school. My son (age 7 ) got off the bus, but my daughter(age 5) did not get off the bus. The bus driver closed the doors of the bus and I waved at him to open the door. When he opened the door, I told him that my daughter must still be on the bus because she had not gotten off. He replied that all of the kids had gotten off and that she must not be on the bus. I asked if he could please check, but he did not comply. I double checked with my son who assured me that she had gotten on the bus with him. Since the bus driver denied me access to the bus to look for my daughter and refused to call for her, I quickly asked my son to get back on the bus to look, but before he could, the bus driver had slammed the doors and was driving off. This was completely unacceptable.

I was therefore left on the road with no explanation as to where my daughter was. I desperately tried calling the school…..finally resorting to calling campus security. For one hour I frantically searched campus, calling various numbers in an attempt to locate my daughter. This experience left me shaken and incredibly worried. Finally after 45 minutes I received a call to confirm my daughter was still on the bus. She had fallen asleep. It was nearly one hour from the time I had asked the bus driver to please check if my daughter was still on the bus until I finally saw her. I am incensed that this could happen. If the driver had been responsible and courteous enough to take the extra 30 seconds it takes to double check to see if she was there - even calling her name would have worked - an hour of distress and worry could have been avoided.

Any bus driver who drives young children to and from school should be responsible enough to make sure that students get off the bus at their appropriate stop. The driver was very rude and completely unapologetic. When a parent waits at a bus stop to pick up their 5 year old child, the least that the bus driver can do is make sure that the child gets off the bus – especially if the parent makes a request for him to do so.

I would like to receive an apology as well as a statement from L***** bus lines as to how your company and its drivers will prevent this from happening in the future. No parent or child should have to go through the unnecessary distress that I experienced today. The bus driver’s response to my request was completely unacceptable.

Sincerely,

T***** C******