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Old October 3rd 19, 01:00 PM posted to uk.transport.london
MissRiaElaine MissRiaElaine is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jul 2018
Posts: 203
Default Boris's bus related jinxes continue

On 03/10/2019 00:45, Recliner wrote:

Modern buses have extensive, high res CCTV coverage covering the whole bus
interior. The yobs will certainly be caught on camera, and the drivers can
summon urgent assistance. My local buses show the CCTV images in a constant
cycle, so you're reminded of how your image is being recorded.


Ah, CCTV. My last job before I retired was to deal with requests for
CCTV; processing footage for issue to police, insurance investigators
and the like.

There were not enough cameras to cover the full interior of the vehicle,
so there were many, many blind spots. And those cameras that we had were
frequently vandalised so that they were useless in the event of an
incident. Even if the miscreants *are* caught on camera, identifying
them and ensuring they are dealt with is a whole different ball game.

Getting the dead cameras repaired was also a nightmare; there was ONE
engineer to cover several garages and he was worked to a frazzle,
sometimes it would take him weeks to get around to us. In the meantime,
anything could have happened, and frequently did.

Summon urgent assistance. Ah, yes. There is an emergency button on the
radio system, true. But pressing it doesn't always result in assistance
arriving quickly, or even at all. In my driving days, I was once punched
in the mouth by a drunken yob for no reason other than I had politely
asked him to pay some bus fare. (This was in the days before full cab
door screens, but I've seen people punch their way through those as well).

So I sat there, blood streaming down my face, and pressed the emergency
button. The controller did come on the line quickly, true. But the first
words out of his mouth were not "are you ok..?" or "do you need
police/ambulance..?" No, he simply said "can you carry on in service..?"

I don't think I need to mention what my reply was.


--
Ria in Aberdeen

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