Bus driver Shane Lazzaro said he and his colleagues face frequent abuse from the public. 80541 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By XAVIER SMERDON
BUS drivers are getting abused on a daily basis in Wyndham but the problem is often swept under the rug, a former driver in the area claims.
Shane Lazzaro has been a bus driver for at least 15 years but he said he gave up driving in the Wyndham area four years ago.
“It (Wyndham) is a pretty bad area,” Mr Lazarro said.
“Drivers cop abuse on a daily basis.”
It comes as Star reported that a driver had been punched, thrown to the ground and kicked in Werribee on 10 April, leaving him with a cracked rib.
Star was inundated with calls and letters from residents claiming they had witnessed drivers being verbally and physically abused.
Mr Lazzaro said the company he previously worked for, Westrans, had even taken the dramatic step of employing security cars to follow certain buses on their journeys to try and stamp out violent incidents.
“They used to follow the bus from about 6pm right until the last stop,” he said.
“We had to because of the trouble we were having.”
Mr Lazzaro said Wyndham was known as one of the worst areas for abuse of drivers and called on companies to install cages to protect their workers.
“It’s not rare, it’s common, any bus driver will tell you that,” he said.
“It’s not a matter of if another driver will be assaulted, it’s just when.”
A spokesperson for Westrans said the incident on 10 April was a rarity.
“Westrans takes the safety of its drivers very seriously. All its route service buses have CCTV cameras fitted,” the spokesperson said.
“A cage would not have been effective in this case because the driver was outside the bus confronting a group of youths.”
Tarneit resident Shawn Lynch said he came to the aid of a driver who was being punched by a “drug-crazed teenager” that was removed from the bus for abusing other passengers and said he was appalled that people often failed to come their defence.
“The offender was strong enough to push the driver, who was twice his size, back into his seat and started punching him,” Mr Lynch said.
“I went and put a choke hold on the teen and pulled him off and, with the driver, we got him off the bus again.
“Just as appalling, several people had gone from the front of the bus to cower at the back.”
Mr Lazzaro said he and his colleagues could face abuse for any reason ranging from the bus being late to a possible hatred of people in uniforms.
