Kyoto bus driver dismissed after failing to help fallen passenger

you know, there are quite a few whacko birds out there. i wonder if this old lady fell down just to get attention. the fired driver seems to imply that this disabled woman was well-known by the other drivers for falling down.  i'm sure those guys must have helped her but then finally decided that she was doing it on purpose. because i really can't imagine a group of bus drivers bullying a disabled woman. it just sounds to weird.

Guy’s simply a rude and inconsiderate person. Y’know if he made an inappropriate remark but helped her at least, I’d still be ok. Nut.

Yeah, this is a legitimate firing. What a complete arse and good luck finding another job

Tokyoites aren't famous for their manners but I witnessed something on the bus the other day that gave me hope for humanity. I was on a Tokyu Bus and the route was very congested because of a malfunction on the Denentoshi Line. So the buses were jam-packed with people having no other means get to Shibuya. The bus immediately in front of ours was from a rival company (Odakyu), and from out the windscreen I could see that a person in a wheelchair was planning to board, which is a big job for the driver. Since we weren't going anywhere until the bus in front of us moved from the stop, my Tokyu driver gallantly disembarked and pushed the man in the wheelchair up the special ramp and onto the Odakyu bus. I noted the driver's name and when I get a chance will phone to his company and tell them how impressed I was by this act of kindness and cooperation. (And of course the bus in front was able to depart that much sooner.)

Nakanoguy,

“this old lady”

How old was she?

I’m glad to hear news of a drivers dismissal for this. The local buses used to slam the door shut and take off like greased lightning the minute the last passenger to board got both feet barely in the door. It was a struggle to get to a seat even when I was young. Many years ago I mentioned this nasty business to an orthopaedic surgeon of my acquaintance and said it’s a wonder people weren’t falling down and getting hurt. He replied that actually at his large hospital they were seeing a number of such patients each year.

For some reason, things turned around the other way and now the drivers wait for passengers to be seated, and even scold deboarding passengers for standing up before the bus comes to a full stop. There are also constant recorded announcements telling us to either keep seated or holding onto a bar or strap whenever the bus is in motion.

I sometimes wonder what exact set of circumstances converged to bring about this change. But I’m not complaining.

Wouldn't be surprised if he did this because of the strict time schedules.

We experienced the same rudeness of Kyoto bus drivers. We were tourists back in 2015 with my 85 year old mother and this bus driver intentionally didn't stop at our command on our designated bus stop.

Do they reduce bus drivers’ bonuses ¥5000 for every time they finish the route late or something?

Neil Magno

Kyotoites...when they are stuffy and racist are the worst Ive seen in Japan.

They look down on other Japanese and think they are the center of culture. In general they dislike tourists, but thats common in over visited places.

Pure human scum. I can only hope Karma exists, as losing his job is just the tip of the iceberg of what he deserves.

“This woman does this all the time.”

Yeah, because she is DISABLED ALL THE TIME, you stupid moron. This is just a typical example of the moral values a collectivist society cultivates. Individuals are coerced and expected to conform the group, you follow the established norms and routine, failing to do so will get you no sympathy, compassion or understanding, you will simply be left behind or stamped over.

Wouldn't be surprised if he did this because of the strict time schedules.

What time schedules? All my experiences with buses in Kyoto is them being late. Not their fault really, but just saying.

What do you expect? He's 33 years old. That's teenage punk age in Japan.

I live in Kyoto, take buses nearly every day. The driving is often appalling, with drivers often heavy on the brakes, especially difficult for elderly passengers to maintain their balance.

This was very a very surprising article for me to read. I remember visiting Fukuoka from Korea a while back. One of the first things that my girlfriend at the time and I noticed was the bus driver. He waited until the old lady sat down before driving to the next destination. We both looked at each other in amazement as if to say "did you see that?" I still remember to this day how all the bus drivers in Japan waited for passengers to sit down which was quite refreshing.

But it is surprising that he was fired rather than reprimanded.