‘Crushed’ Mum’s anger after bus doors trap baby
ABRISTOL mum claims her five-month-old baby and his pushchair were ‘crushed’ in bus doors as it drove away after she and a friend were refused entry.
Machaela Mitchard who lives in Knowle, said her baby was left with minor bruises after the number 91 First Bus suddenly took off with her pram jammed in the doorway from Broad Weir Road in Cabot Circus.
She said she was distressed and disgusted by the ordeal in which both friends frantically tried to free the pushchair as the bus moved off. She claims the doors repeatedly slammed against her pushchair causing minor injuries to her baby.
Police and First Bus say they are investigating and other passengers have been asked to come forward.
Ms Mitchard said: “Everyone was shouting and I was smacking and kicking the bus.”
The 21-year-old said when the number 91 arrived the driver told her that two pushchairs were not allowed on the same bus. Miss Mitchard said she had offered to fold down the pram and hold her baby instead.
She said: “He said no and told us to get off the bus.”
Her friend Jayde Williams, who lives in St George, said after their tickets were scanned the driver told them only one pushchair could board.
Miss Williams who has a onemonth-old child, said she was “rudely” told to wait a further 20 minutes for another bus despite Miss Mitchard’s offer to close her pram down and hold her baby. The 21-year-old said they both desperately pleaded with the driver to accommodate them as they were heading to the same destination.
She said: “We then said to him that it was freezing cold. My baby is only a month old.”
Miss Williams said after vacating the bus, she immediately saw her friend’s baby was trapped in the bus door and was being dragged along. She added: “I managed to catch the baby and the pushchair just in time before it hit the floor.”
Both mothers contacted the bus company and were told it would take 14 days for the police and the organisation to look into the incident.
Miss Mitchard said: “My baby has minor injuries but if my friend did not catch his pram it could have been a very different outcome.”
Chris Hanson, First West of England Operations Director, said: “An incident on the service 91 at the Broad Weir stop on Wednesday December 2 has been reported to us and we are currently undertaking a full investigation with the co-operation of the driver and on-board CCTV.
“A safe and comfortable travelling experience for our customers is our number one priority.”
An Avon and Somerset police spokeswoman said officers were appealing for passengers who were on the number 91 bus from Bristol city centre to Hengrove during the afternoon of Wednesday, December 2, to come forward. She added: “If you were at the stop or on the bus at the time, saw the incident or have dashcam or phone footage of it please call 101 quoting reference 5220271758.”