A mum says her baby daughter was injured when a bus driver braked suddenly after speeding up to get through traffic lights on amber.
Shauni Pinion, 31, was a passenger when she said the bus suddenly braked and her child's buggy 'toppled over sideways' onto the floor before she was thrown on top of the 12-month-old, Alyssa, who was strapped in securely at the time. The buggy's brakes were also on, she said.
Alyssa, who has only just turned one, was later taken to see a doctor but luckily suffered only a bump to her head. But Shauni, who was also with her four-year-old son at the time, suffers from chronic pain disorder fibromyalga and says her symptoms have worsened as a result of the incident, with her GP prescribing further medication.
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She shared an image of Alyssa's buggy with a snapped metal frame and she claims they were left 'dumped at the side of the road' in the aftermath of the incident - and the driver didn't ask her whether they needed any first aid.
'We could have been seriously hurt'
Shauni says the incident happened when the Stagecoach driver braked suddenly on April 8.
They had been to a family party in Stockport and were returning home on the 330 Stagecoach service between Stockport and Ashton when she says the incident happened at around 4.30pm on King Street in Dukinfield, near its junction with Astley Street.
Shauni, from Dukinfield, said: "Stagecoach are stonewalling me. They will not tell me whether there is any disciplinary action. I have witnesses who say the driver was trying to run the amber light. He realised that he couldn't make it then slammed on hard.
"My daughter, or anyone else on the bus, could have been seriously injured. It's just not on."
Shauni said her son was sat next to a woman facing forwards near the front of the bus on the lower deck. She was sat next to her daughter and the buggy, on a seat next to a dedicated buggy space facing sidewards, with her son to their side.
"I was one stop from home really, not that the driver knew it," said Shauni. "My son was falling asleep and I was trying to keep him awake. I had one hand on the buggy and another hand on my son, winding him up to try and keep him awake.
"We were coming up to some lights and all of a sudden, he [the driver] just sharply braked. He must have put his foot to the floor.
"The buggy toppled over sideways with my daughter in it. She smacked her head on the side of the buggy. I must have shot off the chair like a rocket. I fell sideways and landed on top of my daughter in the buggy. Luckily she was fine but had a bump to the head.
"I have been to the doctors and the pain has got worse since this happened."
She said a Good Samaritan passenger got up to help them but they struggled to get the buggy upright because its metal frame snapped near a wheel.
Shauni claims the driver then moved off and pulled up by the side of the road. "The passenger then helped me off the bus and propped my daughter's buggy up against a shop window," she said.
"The driver then got out of his cab and asked if we were okay. I told him that we were not okay. I told him what had happened, but he said he had to go because he was holding up the traffic. I asked him for his details but he just said that he would ring it through. He told me his name and then just drove off.
"He left me by the side of the road and did not know where my destination was. He did not ask if we needed an ambulance or medical attention. He drove off and left us there."
Shauni, who had to make a phone call to get help to get back home, said she has contacted Stagecoach to complain and has spoken with the company's insurers. "I am furious about it all," she added.
"All I want from them is for them to confirm to me that my children were put at risk by the driver's actions. I want an explanation. I want to know why that driver felt the need to put everyone on that bus in danger."
The Manchester Evening News put all Shauni's complaints and what she says happened to Stagecoach. A spokesperson for Stagecoach said: "This is being handled by our insurance claims team and as such we are unable to provide further information at this time."
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