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School coach drivers. - FotheringtonThomas
I was waiting for a coach to negotiate a sharp bend earlier, and the driver waved as she came by, smiling and calling out of the window "There'll be three more of us along in a second!". She seemed to be hugely enjoying the drive.

The others came along straight after. They were all being driven by women. Is this unusual? What sex are most coach drivers?
School coach drivers. - Armstrong Sid
They were all being driven by women. Is this
unusual? What sex are most coach drivers?


I suspect it will become more common in the future. These days, school bus drivers have to get a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check before they are allowed to go near children. Maybe not a bad thing, but it might put some people off even trying to apply for such a job
School coach drivers. - Badwolf
Hmmm. I'm sure you didn't realise it, Sid but your post kind of infers that you think that all male bus and coach drivers are potential child molesters.

FT - most coach drivers are men and I would consider it most unusual to see a convoy of four coaches driven by women. Our local bus company does employ a lot more women drivers than when I was a nipper so logically we can expect to see more female coach drivers in the years to come. And that is no bad thing.
School coach drivers. - Armstrong Sid
Hmmm. I'm sure you didn't realise it Sid but your post kind of infers that
you think that all male bus and coach drivers are potential child molesters.


I know what you mean. I tried to avoid implying that because I'm sure most school bus drivers are perfectly ok. What I was trying to say is that in the past, maybe someone became a school bus driver along the lines of

"got any jobs going, mate?"
"can you drive a bus?"
"yes"
"start on Monday on the school run"

Whereas now, there's a load of bureaucracy and form-filling involved, so they just go and drive a van for their mate instead
School coach drivers. - Badwolf
>>What I was trying to say is that in
the past maybe someone became a school bus driver along the lines of
"got any jobs going mate?"
"can you drive a bus?"
"yes"
"start on Monday on the school run"
Whereas now there's a load of bureaucracy and form-filling involved so they just go and
drive a van for their mate instead.


You've got it pretty bang on there, and I know that you didn't mean any offence. It's a tricky one to word correctly and I think I'd certainly have got it wrong!

The doctor who performed my medical when I joined Stagecoach 12 years ago basically looked me up and down and said "You're breathing and got all your limbs. You'll do." When my brother went for his PSV medical last year he had a much more stringent test. Not that you could get less stringent that the test I had!

I think that, from the point of view of customers of the industry (passengers might have been a better word!) these new checks are a Very Good Thing. For coach company owners, they can be a right royal pain in the bum.
School coach drivers. - FotheringtonThomas
Hmmm. I'm sure you didn't realise it Sid but your post kind of infers that
you think that all male bus and coach drivers are potential child molesters.


It is true to say that there are potential issues with adults of either sex - recent news reports show such. If you are male or female, the requirements re. CRB checks are the same. These checks are going to become more stringent, and assume that anyone is a potential problem - this is IMO unhelpful, and will not prevent problems (see recent news reports and sentencing). In future, it seems, even drivers giving lifts in rota with other parents may have to be extensively checked.

FT - most coach drivers are men and I would consider it most unusual to
see a convoy of four coaches driven by women.


That's why I remarked upon it. I was quite surprised!
School coach drivers. - Bill Payer
Hmmm. I'm sure you didn't realise it Sid but your post kind of infers that
you think that all male bus and coach drivers are potential child molesters.

I didn't read that into the post his post at all. Perhaps you're more alert to such things than I am?
School coach drivers. - Badwolf
I think that, as a coach (and latterly bus) driver I get so used to people having a go at us for many and varied reasons that I just assume that it what was intended even if that was the furthest thing from the OP's mind (and I'm sure that it was).

It's quite sad really when I think of how highly regarded a bus driver was forty or fifty years ago. Now we're regarded as no more than an extension of the machine.

Armstrong Sid - sorry to hijack your thread with a rant!
School coach drivers. - Kiwi Gary
A lot of women are driving the ordinary services here, not just school buses. One that I often meet if we happen to both be on "early shift" is a white-haired grandmother. She knows how to throw that dual-rear-axle brute around. Another is a European woman who must have had Sheila van-Damm as her childhood heroine.
School coach drivers. - Altea Ego
Our local school is served by special big yellow busses. Think american style and you have it right. There is a fleet of 4. They are used twice a day for an hour each time (cant be used for anything else)

So who is gonna want a job for three hours a day, working in school term only?

What coach company are gonna want to employ full time male drivers when they are tied up for three inflexible hours a day?

Hence the school busses in question are driven by two women and a retired bloke.


School coach drivers. - stunorthants26
One of my customers, a countryside type who has her HGV license has recently applied to do bus driving. She is late 40's. She also has experience in social care an is regularily CRB checked, she said its no hassle if your clean.

The CRB check does work though. I know the person who does the CRB for SC and apparently it throws up a fair few people who dont declare all kinds of convictions when asked on forms.
Plenty of female bus drivers in my area and plenty of women work in the industry.
School coach drivers. - drbe
>> an is regularily CRB checked she said its no hassle if your clean.


It's no hassle even if you're "dirty". The person commissioning the report and the person who is the subject of the report receive a copy and it lists "all" ones offences, cautions etc.
School coach drivers. - bell boy
women bus drivers are more considerate than men who tend to be aggressive in their driving techniques,more so these days because they threaten to phone the police if you remonstrate about their bad driving and certainly in my area the police side with the drivers (many cases in my local rag about them)