Bus driver sends attackers flying

Auckland's largest bus operator is under growing pressure to protect its drivers from assaults and robbery after a second attack within five days.

In the latest incident, a woman driver was struck on the head with what is believed to have been a length of pipe in the Mangere town centre on Wednesday night, before she put her foot on the accelerator and her male attackers fell out of her bus.

Despite the blow, the Akarana bus union says she was uninjured, although shaken by the incident.

Otahuhu police response manager Senior Sergeant Rachel Whear said she understood that when the woman's attackers got into the bus and demanded money, she accelerated.

"So she was very quick and quite astute in her behaviour - they flew out the door."

The attack followed the assault and robbery of fellow NZ Bus driver Sudeep Singh in Otara on Friday night. He suffered suspected concussion after 20 to 30 blows to his head.

That incident, and the threat of a potentially disruptive stopwork meeting of drivers, produced an offer from the company to form a working party with the union to consider safety issues on its South Auckland runs.