a bus driver’s duty

A few days ago, an SBS Transit bus driver got sacked. Most bus drivers are incompetent, but this bus driver was fired for doing his job. It all started because one lady was clumsy (probably owing to her sizable bulk) and fell after alighting from a bus. She hit her head on the bench at the bus stop and cried for help. Well, the bus driver drove on. Passer-bys got a cab for her. Bitter -and apparently unable to comprehend that it was her own fault- she complained in the hope that the bus driver would get a ’stern warning’. He got fired for not ‘discharging his duties responsibly’. This is wrong.

The duty of a bus driver is to ferry his passengers safely and reliably. Driving on did not cause him to fail this duty. In fact, if he had not driven on, he would have caused delays. A bus driver is not an impromptu medic, so he did the right thing as a bus driver.

The duty of a bus driver is owed to the passengers on his bus. I find it absurd to say that a bus driver owes a duty to anyone at the bus stop. One might as well assert that a taxi driver owes a duty to everyone by the side of the road. The woman had alighted from the bus. She was therefore no longer a passenger. The bus driver owed her no duty.

If SBS Transit wants to sack the bus driver, they ought to be honest about their reasons. Saying he did not fulfill his duty as a bus driver is an insult to him. He did, but apparently at the expense of his job.