Dorset gran still in pain after bus fall (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Dorset gran still in pain after bus fall
7:00pm Thursday 17th June 2010 in
WITH her blackened eyes and bruises you might think this grandmother of five had been mugged – but all she did was get on a bus.
The inset photograph shows 77-year-old Margaret Buss from Corfe Mullen after an incident in which she claims she was sent “flying” on a Wilts and Dorset bus after the driver set off before she’d had a chance to sit down.
She says she hit her face against a seat and landed on her back in the aisle.
“I went down with such a crunch I thought I’d broken something,” she told the Daily Echo Paramedics were called and she was taken to her doctor. She then developed pain in her back, neck and shoulder, and had to move in with her daughter for six weeks.
The incident happened on a number 3 bus at Hillview Post Office, Corfe Mullen, on November 11 last year.
Months later Mrs Buss is still in pain and her life has been transformed. From being a confident, sprightly lady who rode buses almost daily, she is now too scared to use them and relies on her daughter for transport.
“It’s changed my life quite a lot – I don’t want to go out any more,” she added. “It really did shake me up and I’ve lost a lot of my confidence.”
Mrs Buss, who is now paying for months of chiropractic treatment, said Wilts and Dorset refused to accept liability because the driver had reported she was unsteady on her feet.
Her daughter, Jayne Wright, insists her mother was not unsteady but added: “If the driver thought she was, why didn’t he wait for her to sit down?
“They can’t have it both ways.”
Chris Harris, public relations manager for Wilts and Dorset, said the matter was ongoing and in the hands of the company’s claims handlers, who were dealing with solicitors appointed by Mrs Buss’s family.
He added: “We expect our drivers to treat all customers with courtesy and consideration, and the safety and comfort of passengers is the top consideration at all times.”
Comments(21)
KLH
says...
7:38pm Thu 17 Jun 10
Drivers should while in training get to know what that feel like - they should have to board a bus that moves off and be made to try and work their way to the back or upstairs while the bus is moving. Now let me say..... health and safety would probably not allow it!!!
boozie
says...
9:24pm Thu 17 Jun 10
sea poole
says...
10:42pm Thu 17 Jun 10
rainbowkisses
says...
11:45pm Thu 17 Jun 10
lifeissoblog
says...
11:46pm Thu 17 Jun 10
psal
says...
9:00am Fri 18 Jun 10
sea poole wrote:I don't blame them for claiming. You have to buckle up in a car, coach and plane so why should the driver be allowed to drive off throwing people around the isle when they haven't even reached the seats, especially a 77 year old woman.
Read the article and wondered when the legal claims would come in...
Norman Mead
says...
9:47am Fri 18 Jun 10
psal wrote:Agreed. It sounds as though the driver was negligent in his duty to the safety of his passengers – particularly if he already knew the lady was unsteady on her feet, as claimed by the bus company.
sea poole wrote:I don't blame them for claiming. You have to buckle up in a car, coach and plane so why should the driver be allowed to drive off throwing people around the isle when they haven't even reached the seats, especially a 77 year old woman.
Read the article and wondered when the legal claims would come in...
richt
says...
11:43am Fri 18 Jun 10
thewave
says...
1:30pm Fri 18 Jun 10
jayniebabes
says...
1:38pm Fri 18 Jun 10
she is an old age pensioner who up until 3 1/2 yrs ago worked 40 hrs a week in her local supermarket in corfe mullen, which she did for 36 yrs and before that had been employed since leaving school.No sitting on her **** sponging from the state a very active person.
She only retired to look after my step-dad who was dying of cancer.
She has always been an independent person, no one wants to get old and she was certainly fighting it. Now, however she gets in a total panic about going out she is becoming a recluse.
She is not unstaedy on her feet even after the accident she walked unaided to the ambulance ... would a person who was unsteady on her feet have been able to do so... if my mum was a passenger in my car with no seat belyt on both she and I would be fined £100 and I would be given 3 points on my licence.
Health and safety should ensure that passengers are sat down before embarking on their journey.
Ummm btw wilts and dorset are insured if you had a car accident and you got whiplash which her injuries are consistent to you would receive £1000's and dont tell me sea poole you would refuse ?
thewave
says...
1:42pm Fri 18 Jun 10
jayniebabes
says...
2:07pm Fri 18 Jun 10
1:30pm Fri 18 Jun 10
so this happened months ago but now is a story in the Echo. I fell over when I was 8. I blame the local authority and I have lost all confidence and havent beem able to go out since. Please help me echo!!!!!!!!!!
So you are saying you have stayed in and sponged off of the state SHAME ON YOU !!!!!
Get a grip
how old are you now and it would have been your parents responsibility to take action if you fell over something that was dangerous I think we all fell over as children thru our learning to grow my mother is an old pensioner and I dont appreciate you taking the mickey you dont know her and Im sure if you did you would be saddened that this has changed her llife so much.
If this article makes the bus co. more aware that they should slow down for young and old alike then it has achieved something !!!!
blahblah123
says...
2:25pm Fri 18 Jun 10
Drenzul
says...
2:31pm Fri 18 Jun 10
There are handrails all over the damm place on the buses. Is she not capable of holding onto a handrail? I'm sure shes a lovely old lady and everything but on every bus I've been on there is no place on the bus you can stand without there been a handhold within easy reach.
If she can't hold onto a handhold like everyone else who uses the buses you can't really blame the bus driver or company for that. The handholds are there for a reason.
If the bus drivers have to stop everytime anyone is standing up and has to wait for everyone to sit down before pulling off, bus journeys will take twice as long, cost twice as much until they finally there are no busses because no-one uses them anymore due to the cost and it'd be quicker to walk/cycle and only slightly more expensive to get a taxi.
At the end of the day it was her responsibility to either:
1- Hold onto the hand rails
or
2- Ask the bus driver to let her sit down before moving
Since she didn't (according to the report) do either, as sad as it is that she got hurt, she doesn't really have anyone to blame other than herself.
thewave
says...
2:35pm Fri 18 Jun 10
blahblah123 wrote:is it because you were not wearing your seat belt? Or did your desk move before you were ready?
I've just fallen over from reading this comment and I blame you...
thewave
says...
2:38pm Fri 18 Jun 10
jayniebabes wrote:Jayne, you have missed the point completely. This happened 8 months ago so why is it a story now!?!?! Its more non news from the echo. If you really think that I have an issue from when I fell over when I was 8 and have sponged off the state since then....well SHAME ON YOU for being so gulible.
thewave, Christchurch says... 1:30pm Fri 18 Jun 10 so this happened months ago but now is a story in the Echo. I fell over when I was 8. I blame the local authority and I have lost all confidence and havent beem able to go out since. Please help me echo!!!!!!!!!! So you are saying you have stayed in and sponged off of the state SHAME ON YOU !!!!! Get a grip how old are you now and it would have been your parents responsibility to take action if you fell over something that was dangerous I think we all fell over as children thru our learning to grow my mother is an old pensioner and I dont appreciate you taking the mickey you dont know her and Im sure if you did you would be saddened that this has changed her llife so much. If this article makes the bus co. more aware that they should slow down for young and old alike then it has achieved something !!!!
Frank Spencer
says...
3:54pm Fri 18 Jun 10
retired lady
says...
7:48pm Fri 18 Jun 10
jayniebabes
says...
2:59pm Sat 19 Jun 10
2:31pm Fri 18 Jun 10
Oh come on, this is safety fanaticism taken too far.
There are handrails all over the damm place on the buses. Is she not capable of holding onto a handrail? I'm sure shes a lovely old lady and everything but on every bus I've been on there is no place on the bus you can stand without there been a handhold within easy reach.
Actually she is quite capable and yes was holding on so that should tell you at what speed this driver drove off .
He had been having an argument with someone who had descended the bus was obviously late and didnt give a **** Just as it is my responsibility to check that every one in my car has a seat belt on yes the bus co. should take full responsibility for the safety of their passengers and should wait till people are sat down . my mum has ridden on buses all of her life as she does not drive she has never had this before.
The Echo as previously stated did not state every fact !!! Shouldnt have to ask to be seated before speeding off should be common courtesy I done drive off in my car before shutting the door
Just as Taxi drivers tell you to buckle up if you sit in the front of their car, coach drivers tell you put your belt on so Wilts and Dorset should wait for (especially older people ) to take their seat.
At the end of the day they pay insurance for this kind of situation, just as we do in our cars if someone received a whip-lash injury in my car my insurance would sort it.
Norman Mead
says...
1:00pm Wed 23 Jun 10
thewave wrote:Yes, please do stay indoors… in your padded cell.
so this happened months ago but now is a story in the Echo. I fell over when I was 8. I blame the local authority and I have lost all confidence and havent beem able to go out since. Please help me echo!!!!!!!!!!
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LOST CONFIDENCE: Margaret Buss, 77, with her daughter Jayne
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CoogarUK.com says...
7:28pm Thu 17 Jun 10