Our View: Rules should be able to bend

Everyone who read our front-page story yesterday about a 12-year-old boy who walked 10km home after being denied a bus ride will have an opinion on who was right and who was wrong.
A Bus Hopper bus driver refused to let Tauranga Intermediate pupil Fraser Bennett on board as he did not have enough credit on his concession card to cover the $1.60 fare.
With no one left at school, the boy began the long walk home from Grace Rd to Te Maunga. Day turned to night as he made his way along the state highway, and the cold, crying boy arrived home two hours later.
Some will say it is the responsibility of the child and his parents to ensure he had the necessary money to get home. They will say it is not the driver or the bus company's role to hand out free passes to everyone who claims to be short-changed - this sort of conduct could see the driver out of a job or the company out of pocket.
And parents who know their children's school is not within walking distance of home and cannot pick them up must have a fail-safe plan to get them home safely.
While many are against the idea of young children having cellphones, this incident is a prime example of why they should at least have a mobile phone with the ability to call set emergency numbers.
It can also be said that at more than 1.8m tall the boy was big enough to look after himself. But it must be remembered that at 12 he is still only a child - not even old enough to legally be left home alone.
Fraser's mother told this newspaper that she believed the bus company not only discriminated against her son over his appearance but also his gender. She said the bus company informed her the same bus driver had taken two young girls home after they were unable to pay the fare. So the driver must have some power to bend the rules, which is where we enter the other side of the debate.
While it was a difficult call for the bus driver to make, there must be some degree of flexibility for staff in this position.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council transport policy manager Garry Maloney said there were procedures in place for these situations but that they were not followed on this occasion.
Therefore it is vital that the company ensures that all staff are fully informed of the procedures. They must also have rules in place so that these policies are not taken advantage of.
The situation can be likened to that of an Auckland pensioner who was recently fined $150 for parking in a disability space with an expired permit. Anna van den Bogaart never received a renewal notice so was unaware her permit was not current.
Auckland Transport refused to waive the fine but a public outcry saw them back down, conceding that life was not "black and white".
This it is not, and all companies must use discretion in sensitive situations. They must ask themselves, would I like my child - son or daughter - left in the same position?
Common sense must prevail over rules and regulations.
Related story: 12-year-old forced to walk two hours home