SUBJECT: BA jeopardized my safety whilst I was traveling with them and in their care. I have recently traveled to Italy flying with British Airways. On the way out the plane landed at a different airport because of adverse weather conditions. BA arranged for a transfer to the intended airport via bus/coach on the motorway; hence the coach was traveling at speed. Not long into the journey I noticed that the driver of the bus was making telephone calls on his mobile handset. I knew this as I could both see his face in his own large rear-view mirror and also see him holding his light blue 'phone to his right ear. He made several calls, each time looking downwards as he manually keyed the numbers with his right hand, glancing up at the road ahead and then back down to the 'phone, with only his left hand on the steering wheel. It occurred to me that this was a most unsafe practice for a driver with a fully laden bus to expose his passengers to and the more I thought about the situation the more uncomfortable I became. As I watched him make repeated calls my uneasiness turned to anger as it was totally selfish of him to compromise both mine and the other passengers' lives just so as he could use his mobile phone. Therefore I took the decision to confront the driver and made my way down the aisle to the driver's seat. I sternly requested that he cease the call in progress immediately, which he did, and not to use the telephone again during this journey. I advised him that he was both jeopardizing passenger safety also pointing out that he was breaking the law, and although he obviously did not speak perfect English he was left in no doubt that I was not going to tolerate this further.
I returned to my seat and explained to the Italian lady sitting next to me what had occurred. She passed this information on to the other Italian passengers who voiced their appreciation at my actions. I expected this to be the end of the episode and settled back in my seat for the remainder of the journey.
Not more than five minutes later it became noticeable that the bus would occasionally drift over the motorway lane markings and then swerve back again. I looked towards the driver and I was utterly amazed to notice that he was again using his 'phone, but incredibly this time he was not talking but texting! As it was night time and the interior of the bus was unlit, in his rear-view mirror one could clearly see the glow from the keypad of the 'phone illuminating the driver's face. I just couldn't believe my eyes and pointed this out to the lady sitting next to me. Once again I made my way to the front of the bus and for a while just stood behind the driver's seat to observe him to ensure my assumptions were correct. He had the 'phone in his right hand in his lap as he was obviously trying to conceal his actions. His head was mainly tilted downwards as he was creating his txt message with regular glances upwards as he checked the road. This could not be allowed to continue further and I instinctively grabbed his 'phone from his hand. I ordered him to stop the bus immediately at the next slip road exit which was just ahead. He stopped the bus and I severely told him that this blatant lack of consideration to my safety meant that I had lost total confidence in his abilities as a driver in command of a bus full of people on the motorway. I advised him that I would not be continuing and despite the fact that it was night time and raining I would be leaving the bus. I also advised him that I would be both reporting the incident to the Police. I went back to my seat to collect my hand luggage and explained the situation to the passengers. Before leaving I handed the driver's 'phone to a lady passenger and advised her not to give it back to him until completion of the journey.
And so I left the bus at 00:45, collecting my two other suitcases from the hold. I made a note of the registration number of the bus [CR147GT] and the company name [Air Pullman].
The bus drove off back onto the motorway slip road leaving me on the roundabout in the rain and darkness with only the forecourt lights of a garage visible in the distance. Luckily though just as I was making my way to the garage a taxi passed and I flagged it down.
Since returning to the UK I have taken this matter up with British Airways. They have refunded my taxi fare. However they have advised me that "the Italian Codice della Strada (Law on Vehicles and Streets Codes of Conduct) states that there are some exceptions to the law against drivers of rented coach and buses on behalf of third party companies. Under this law the bus driver was therefore allowed to use his mobile phone whilst driving." BA are denying any breach of the law and have become defensive.
I am now somewhat confused by this response and have written to my MEP who in turn has taken up the issue with the Italian Embassy. Their legal representative however starkly disagrees with BA’s interpretation of this Italian legislation. With the backing of my MEP also, he is understandably keen to pursue this case against BA.
The problem at the end of the day is that it will cost someone [presumably me? ] lots of money to pursue this issue against BA, and anyway what case do I have as I was not directly affected or injured by the use of the mobile phone by the BA driver; I don’t believe I have any legal case or grounds to sue?
I would be pleased to hear your comments.
James Linton.
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