Passenger takes motion to catch bus after driver ‘leaves him behind’
A frustrated commuter has sparked a fierce debate about the behaviour of bus drivers (and passengers) when he got revenge on a driver who allegedly left him behind.
The incident, involving an unidentified passenger from Dublin, was captured in a video shared to Instagram by user @s.ashastack and reposted by popular meme page @Irish_Daily.
The clip has been liked more than 8,000 times and has attracted 250 comments debating whether or not the commuter was in the right over his extreme response to not being let on the bus.
The footage shows the man, dressed in a black T-shirt and black jeans, walking after an unsuccessful attempt at catching the 27B Transport for Ireland bus, which serves Eden Quay to Harristown in the Irish capital.
But the would-be passenger isn’t walking alongside or behind the vehicle in order to catch up to it – he’s strolling in front of it to slow it down.
This is the moment a frustrated commuter took drastic measures to stop a bus after the driver allegedly left him behind in Dublin
With heavy traffic blocking the adjacent side of the road, the bus driver is unable to overtake the man, who walks at a deliberately slow pace, resulting in a chorus of prolonged beeps from the increasingly frustrated driver.
The passenger, visibly angry, can be seen recording himself on his phone while making animated gestures to express his annoyance.
Inside the bus, curious passengers can be seen crowding to the front of the top deck to witness and film the extraordinary scene.
The video ends with the man cutting short his slow march and running to the next nearby stop. It remains unclear if the bus driver eventually stopped for the passenger.
Dozens of Instagram users praised the passenger for taking a stand against ‘heartless’ bus drivers, and some even shared their own shocking experiences of being left stranded at bus stops at the last moment.
One person wrote, ‘This is an absolutely villainous move, but after experiencing Dublin buses and their drivers… I understand him,’ while another labelled bus drivers as ‘power happy.’
Another said, ‘Some bus drivers deserve it, never on time, none stopping, not nice at all,’ while a third chimed, ‘To be honest I’d do the exact same thing until they let me on.’
Meanwhile, one previously scathed passenger shared: ‘Bus driver closed the door in my face a month back, even though there was room on the bus. I knocked on the door and he acted like he couldn’t see me.
The footage shows the man, dressed in a black T-shirt and black jeans, walking slowly in front of the 27B Transport for Ireland bus after an unsuccessful attempt at boarding it
The passenger, visibly angry, can be seen recording himself on his phone while making animated gestures to express his annoyance
Dozens of Instagram users praised the passenger for taking a stand against ‘heartless’ bus drivers, while others branded him ‘selfish’ for ‘inconveniencing’ fellow passengers
‘People on the bus had told him to let me on – I’m very visibly pregnant and had to wait 25 mins for the next bus, ended up crying at the stop. Complained to Dublin bus and got an automated email back.’
Another wrote: ‘The amount of times I see someone just miss the bus as it pulls off and I never see any driver stop the bus and let them on. It’s like they have no heart. You would think the bus fare comes out of their own pocket.’
However, not everyone was sympathetic, as some found his actions to be ‘selfish’ and condemned the passenger over his ‘childish behaviour.’
One person wrote, ‘Ridiculous childish behaviour,’ while another said, ‘People are so selfish these days. I was inconvenienced therefore I can inconvenience everyone else, while on live.’
In 2013, a woman who missed a bus stopped it by lying down in the road spread eagle – and wouldn’t move until the driver let her on.
