A GO Wellington bus incident last Wednesday badly frightened some Wellington College girls.
The girls were taking a bus back to school from Newtown Park after athletics, when the bus knocked the entrance gates of the park, badly cracking a window.
The girls were left worried that it would shatter on them at any moment.
“We were all screaming, and I jumped over one of my friend’s to get to the aisle. But [the driver] just kept going, he didn’t have a care in the world,” says year nine student Samantha Kendrick. “We were really scared.”
GO Wellington General Manager Bruce Kenyon says the damage wasn’t significant enough to order another bus.
“Ordinarily, the driver would call control and a replacement bus would be sent,” he says. “In this case, however, the driver assessed the window as cracked and decided to complete his journey because in his assessment the window was secure despite the crack.”
But Samantha’s mum Jenny says the bus driver didn’t stop to check the bus.
“The bus driver’s behaviour is disgusting – he didn’t assess the damage, or the children,” she says.
Jenny called the school to complain after Samantha arrived home visibly upset, but hasn’t had any feedback.