What are the official rules or laws regarding broken bus windows?

[175mph]

Regarding the comment in this thread which mentions a bus continuing to run after a window gets broken, I was wondering what are the official rules or laws when it comes to a window getting smashed that isn't the windscreen? Is it the law a driver is supposed to make everyone get off then take the bus back to the depot as a dead run or is it up to drivers or individual company policies to make the decision on what course of action to take in this situation?

 

[Ianno87]

It happened a few times (window just falling out entirely) on our school bus back in the mid-2000s. Driver just moved people away from it* and carried on.

Obviously can't just dump off a load of school kids far from home, and scrambling a new bus from depot would've taken best part of an hour at least from where they were based.

*Naturally, a few jokers (not including myself) opted to disembark at their stop via the missing window.

 

[Cesarcollie]

Regarding the comment in this thread which mentions a bus continuing to run after a window gets broken, I was wondering what are the official rules or laws when it comes to a window getting smashed that isn't the windscreen? Is it the law a driver is supposed to make everyone get off then take the bus back to the depot as a dead run or is it up to drivers or individual company policies to make the decision on what course of action to take in this situation?

A broken window is a potential cause of passenger injury and therefore subject to a PG9 (prohibition) if vehicle is checked by DVSA or police. It MAY be acceptable to move passengers away and take them to the next safe place where they can wait for a replacement bus, but that would depend on the reasonableness of the officer concerned. Interestingly, I have seen trains in service with broken windows taped over - a bus operator would not be allowed to do that!!

 

[175mph]

A broken window is a potential cause of passenger injury and therefore subject to a PG9 (prohibition) if vehicle is checked by DVSA or police. It MAY be acceptable to move passengers away and take them to the next safe place where they can wait for a replacement bus, but that would depend on the reasonableness of the officer concerned. Interestingly, I have seen trains in service with broken windows taped over - a bus operator would not be allowed to do that!!

When I've been on a bus before and someone bricked one of the windows, the driver stopped briefly, told us what's going to have to happen with us having to get off at the next stop, then by the time he got to the next stop, it looked like a bomb had gone off, the shattered window had fallen all over the seating and floor from the movement of the bus.

 

[Volvodart]

On a frequent service, the driver would just wait for the bus behind, transfer passengers and return to the depot, moving a bit away if the person who threw the brick was likely to be still around.

 

[causton]

It happened on my school bus home (edit: obviously many years ago!), the driver didn't believe the people telling him and the bus continued I believe

 

[BestWestern]

Interestingly, I have seen trains in service with broken windows taped over - a bus operator would not be allowed to do that!!

The difference in approach is due to a couple of factors. Most train windows are double glazed and it's rare for a missle to break the inner as well the outer pane, buses of course are now increasingly once again fitted with single glazing, and additionally there is almost always the facility to take an affected carriage out of use and relocate passengers elsewhere, which of course cannot be achieved on a bus. There are however various rules, speed restrictions and so on, relating to broken windows on trains.

 

[Typhoon]

... additionally there is almost always the facility to take an affected carriage out of use and relocate passengers elsewhere, which of course cannot be achieved on a bus. There are however various rules, speed restrictions and so on, relating to broken windows on trains.

In the image from #6, would it be possible to move all the students to the lower deck, provided there was room, particularly as the whole window has been taken out?

In this particular case (school bus) no-one else would be getting on and there won't be a bus behind.

I'm not proposing this as a solution, merely interested.

 

[Andyh82]

This was a number of years ago, but when a bus I was on was bricked, passengers were told to move down to the front away from the broken window, and then the bus continued in service but alighting only.

Staying in situ may actually cause a further attack, and if it’s a window that is out of the way, such as towards the back of a single decker or upstairs on a double decker, to continue seems the best course of action at least on less frequent services.

 

[philthetube]

I had bricks thrown through three windows on a coach after a football match while carrying a junior supporters group, 9-15 age group, the police provided an escort for the remainder of the 50 mile journey and I was told to proceed wit adult supervisors be the broken windows.

 

[Cesarcollie]

The difference in approach is due to a couple of factors. Most train windows are double glazed and it's rare for a missle to break the inner as well the outer pane, buses of course are now increasingly once again fitted with single glazing, and additionally there is almost always the facility to take an affected carriage out of use and relocate passengers elsewhere, which of course cannot be achieved on a bus. There are however various rules, speed restrictions and so on, relating to broken windows on trains.

That's interesting - thanks!!

 

[Wirewiper]

I think it is one of those occurrences where, no matter what the letter of the law says, common sense (and above all, the safety of passengers and the driver) should take precedence. That might mean stopping the bus there and then and transferring everybody, or it might mean driving away from an area where the vehicle or its passengers might be vulnerable to further attack. It might also mean not stranding passengers for hours when a replacement vehicle is not easily sourced. Such actions can be seen as reasonable under the circumstances.

In areas where this becomes a frequent occurrence some operators choose to withdraw services for a period, notably in evenings.

I recall reading an article about a coach company local to me, Empress Coaches of Bethnal Green. They used to convey troops in the 1970s when IRA paramilitaries were particularly active, and had a police escort. Now the law of the land requires that if you hit and injure someone whilst driving, you stop and remain at the scene. When on troop movements, Empress drivers were given explicit instructions NOT to stop if they hit anybody.

 

[175mph]

I think it is one of those occurrences where, no matter what the letter of the law says, common sense (and above all, the safety of passengers and the driver) should take precedence. That might mean stopping the bus there and then and transferring everybody, or it might mean driving away from an area where the vehicle or its passengers might be vulnerable to further attack. It might also mean not stranding passengers for hours when a replacement vehicle is not easily sourced. Such actions can be seen as reasonable under the circumstances.

In areas where this becomes a frequent occurrence some operators choose to withdraw services for a period, notably in evenings.

I recall reading an article about a coach company local to me, Empress Coaches of Bethnal Green. They used to convey troops in the 1970s when IRA paramilitaries were particularly active, and had a police escort. Now the law of the land requires that if you hit and injure someone whilst driving, you stop and remain at the scene. When on troop movements, Empress drivers were given explicit instructions NOT to stop if they hit anybody.

There was a certain route here in Scunthorpe that got partially withdrawn due to the sheer amount of times buses got bricked. The route stopped serving the road where this kept happening, then was reinstated after almost a year, and it never happened on that road since.

I was told by one of the bus drivers it's one of the reasons why we never get brand new buses in Scunthorpe as the last time we did, within a week, got attacked with bricks.

 

[Mwanesh]

There is an area of Southampton where buses used to get stoned.People knew who was responsible but were afraid .After they were told no buses after 5pm the locals sorted out the problem themselves

 

[175mph]

There is an area of Southampton where buses used to get stoned.People knew who was responsible but were afraid .After they were told no buses after 5pm the locals sorted out the problem themselves

Sorry, forgot about this discussion, I meant to ask, did the services get reinstated after the problem was 'sorted'?

 

[zuriblue]

I was on a bus once going through Deptford and the upstairs got bricked. Once I told the driver he went upstairs, cleared the passengers away from the area and put a seat cushion to block off access then continued to Lewisham where he went out of service. (The bus was based at Catford garage)

Another time I was on a night bus and the driver had a row with a drunken passenger and put him off the bus, the guy put the window through behind the doors and the bus had to go out of service there and then and we transferred to another bus which came up behind.

So I suspect it’s down to the drivers risk assessment and how easy it is to block off the area where the broken window is.

 

[darloscott]

Had it happen to me once on mischief night on my last trip (9pm-ish) about 5 mins from end of the route! I stopped round the corner from where it happened, had a quick look and then transferred passengers to the next bus behind me (luckily only a few mins wait) and then ran light to depot as I was finished anyway.

 

[73001]

Whilst doing revenue protection in Toxteth I put a lad off the bus for a very out of date bus pass. He put a brick through the door window as we pulled off and then legged it. As it was a very high frequency route we just transferred the passengers and then gave the police his confiscated pass, with his correct name and address on! Not the brightest bulb in the box. The windows do seem to shatter into far more pieces than would actually make up a window and normally drivers here tend to knock the remaining glass out of the frame so it's not dropping all over the place whilst returning to the garage.

 

[175mph]

Whilst doing revenue protection in Toxteth I put a lad off the bus for a very out of date bus pass. He put a brick through the door window as we pulled off and then legged it. As it was a very high frequency route we just transferred the passengers and then gave the police his confiscated pass, with his correct name and address on! Not the brightest bulb in the box. The windows do seem to shatter into far more pieces than would actually make up a window and normally drivers here tend to knock the remaining glass out of the frame so it's not dropping all over the place whilst returning to the garage.

I've seen the drivers knock out the remaining glass too, and when I was on a bus route one evening that went near Scunthorpe football ground, a seemingly drunk football fan bricked several windows and the bus driver dropped us all off there stops away, but by the time I got off, all the seats next to the damaged windows had huge piles of broken glass on them.