The Herald reported earlier last month that a Tauranga Bayhopper bus driver was scared he could lose his job after having his arm broken by a passenger.
Speaking up about safety on the job seems to be a real concern for some migrants, yet we’re told by their employers that such voiced opinions would not impact their jobs.
More recently, the Herald reported three more drivers in Tauranga were assaulted by passengers in just five days, including one driver being punched and strangled for asking a man to pay full fare.
In November last year, an Auckland bus driver who suffered fractured ribs and eye damage required hospital care after being attacked during a shift. It came after a spate of assaults including a driver being beaten, an alleged racially charged assault, a neck-slashing and a wrench attack.
It’s sobering reading and frightening to think that public transport jobs may be just as dangerous as those in the prison system.
At least for prison officers, there is an array of specialist training, such as de-escalation, tactical communication, physical restraint techniques and they are equipped with weapons for self-defence, such as batons and pepper spray.
They also have the benefit of tactical response and emergency teams ready to step in when things look hairy.
Bus drivers are pretty much on their own.
NZ Transport Agency announced last year that all Auckland buses will have driver protection screens installed by 2026.
This is a good start.
Some may argue money and resources would be better spent on more effective de-escalation techniques and self-defence.
Perhaps body cams and access to pepper spray might be considered.
Police offer de-escalation training to bus drivers and Auckland Transport (AT) also put more transport officers in problem areas to help curb anti-social behaviour.
Has this effort worked?
The numbers don’t lie: according to data from AT, assaults against drivers in the first six months of 2024 rose to 33, up from 21 over the same period a year earlier.
Unless AT, other councils and bus companies around the country put officers on every route and bus, incidents will still happen.
Auckland Tramways Union president Gary Froggatt told the Herald in December last year he was appalled by the growing number of attacks on bus drivers, saying it started during Covid-19, is getting worse, and is a sign of how society is going.
“We can’t have a policeman on every bus.”
A Rotorua Cityride bus driver knows all too well what it’s like to be attacked on the job.
In December 2022, he was bashed until he was unconscious, was stomped on, kicked in the head with work boots and dragged in a headlock.
All because he told a passenger to get off the bus after they refused to pay the fare.
The judge at the attacker’s sentencing called it “ferocious and unprecedented”.
Yes, there is a systemic, societal element – violence, poverty and socio-economic inequities that eventually need addressing.
But in the meantime, how can we protect our public transport workers who are on the front line?
This problem doesn’t look like it’s going away in a hurry and it needs to be taken seriously. It’s a matter of life and death.
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