AS the driver of St Luke's minibus for the Wednesday Club, I feel I should warn parents of a very dangerous practice that seems to be the "in thing to do" if you are a youngster these days.
On three times in recent weeks, I have been the unwitting carrier of these children. They have been jumping on to the rear step of the minibus as I have been drawing away, after dropping a passenger off.
This has happened once at the junction of Adrian Road and Halliwell Road by children in red-coloured school jumpers. On this occasion, as I turned left on to Halliwell Road, one of these children managed to open the rear door before falling off into the road. By the time I had pulled in to the kerb, these little "darlings" had run off down the road, laughing, shouting and gesticulating. The other two occasions have happened in Raphael Street, and it has been the same four or five children.
Most of my passengers are elderly ladies, well into their 80s, and a couple are 90 years old, and I do try to give them a steady and stress-free ride. But, because of the antics of these children, this is proving to be difficult. For people who are unaware of the practice of driving a minibus, ALL the doors should be unlocked before driving with passengers, (MIDAS and Church instructions), and the rear step is there to bridge the gap between the floor of the bus and the ground. Unfortunately, it is a fixed step. If you are a parent or a teacher reading this, may I appeal to you to let your charges know of the dangers to themselves, and also the unnecessary stress that these children are putting on drivers.
J Sinclair
Voluntary minibus driver
Rawson Road, Bolton
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