Bus company defends safety record

The Stagecoach bus company is defending its safety record following several recent injuries to passengers, saying there is just one accident for every 660,000 customers.

The latest incident was in Lower Hutt and involved a passenger who says she was thrown to the footpath and concussed when a bus driver drove off as she stepped from the door.

The woman had to take two weeks off work and had suffered migraines since the September accident. She wanted the driver, who did not stop, to be prosecuted and compensation paid for lost wages.

Police are investigating the incident.

Also in the past month, a pensioner was admitted to hospital with a broken rib after being thrown 3m when a bus driver braked hard, and a partly blind boy was assaulted and dragged off a bus by a passenger last month after a driver refused to accept his pass.

Stagecoach spokesman Russell Turnbull said today every incident involving a customer was a concern but it was important to put it into context.

"We have about 18 accidents a year involving our customers in Wellington," Mr Turnbull told NZPA.

"That's one person per 666,000 people carried.

"We do carry 12 million people a year and we don't suppose that people won't have (reason) to call us, so we have quite a process in place for people to do that."

Stagecoach was not abdicating its responsibility for incidents on its buses but did not believe a few incidents should taint the whole operation.

Travel by bus was safer than driving, riding a motorbike or a pushbike, or walking, Mr Turnbull said. He did not know how it compared with train travel.

Drivers involved in incidents were formally interviewed and, if training was deemed necessary, given help. Some had lost their jobs because they consistently failed to meet standards.

"We have, in the company in Wellington, 280 drivers and we accept that they're not going to be perfect all the time, and that's why we do have a process for customers to call and let us know when they're unhappy," Mr Turnbull said.

"The public has an expectation to be able to travel on our buses safely and when that doesn't happen then they have an expectation that we will do something to fix it. And we will."

- NZPA