20/09/2026
Our friends and customer Hit The Road Travel have today touched on a serious concern in the travel industry.
We will now be working with them to provide and produce a badge to support the quite bell
💙🚌 A MESSAGE FROM CJ & HIT THE ROAD TO OUR TRANSPORT FAMILY SORRY ITS A LONG READ BUT A MATTER CLOSE TO OUR HEARTS 🚌💙
Usually our posts come with a laugh, a dodgy sat-nav joke and probably a CJ teddy bear somewhere… 🧸😂
But today we’re putting the jokes to one side for a moment.
Over recent days there have been a number of deeply concerning incidents involving the bus and coach industry across the UK and Ireland, and we wanted to recognise what some of our fellow drivers, passengers, families and operators have been through.
🇬🇧 TELFORD
On Friday evening in Madeley, Telford, police say a bus driver was assaulted and ejected from his vehicle.
The bus was then taken and driven along Park Way towards the High Street, travelling on the wrong side of the road and colliding with a number of vehicles before eventually being stopped.
A man was arrested on suspicion of robbery and dangerous driving.
Thankfully, police reported that the driver did not suffer serious injuries, although he was taken to hospital following what must have been an incredibly frightening and distressing experience.
🇮🇪 OMAGH, NORTHERN IRELAND
Just days earlier another frightening incident unfolded in Omagh, County Tyrone, this time involving a Translink Goldliner coach.
Police reported that a man believed to have a knife hijacked the coach.
Passengers were allowed to leave — but frighteningly, the coach driver was kept on board.
The coach was then driven away and a police pursuit followed along the A5 through Victoria Bridge and Sion Mills before the vehicle was eventually stopped in Strabane.
A man was subsequently charged with a number of offences including kidnapping and hijacking.
Once again, behind the wheel was simply a professional driver who had turned up for another day’s work — and suddenly found themselves in a situation nobody in our industry should ever have to experience. 💙
🇬🇧 BURY ST EDMUNDS
And it wasn’t just incidents involving vehicles being taken.
In Bury St Edmunds, police were called following reports that a handgun had been pointed at a bus driver.
Armed police officers attended and two teenagers were subsequently arrested.
Police later confirmed that an imitation fi***rm had been recovered.
Thankfully, it wasn’t ultimately found to be a genuine fi***rm — but think about that from the driver’s point of view.
When somebody points what appears to be a handgun at you, you don’t have the luxury of knowing whether it’s genuine or imitation.
You’re simply somebody who’s gone to work to carry passengers from A to B and suddenly you’re facing something absolutely terrifying.
Whether the weapon is subsequently discovered to be imitation doesn’t take away the fear that driver must have experienced at that moment.
📱🚌 SOCIAL MEDIA, ATTACKS & “BUS SURFING”
Sadly, incidents like these aren’t the only challenges being faced by people working behind the wheel.
We’re also seeing extremely dangerous behaviour involving buses and coaches being filmed and circulated on social media.
There have been incidents involving vehicles being attacked, kicked, struck or otherwise interfered with, alongside the dangerous phenomenon sometimes referred to as “bus surfing.”
That’s people clinging to the outside of moving buses or attempting to get onto roofs and ride along.
Apparently travelling inside the bus like everybody else just isn’t adventurous enough for some people anymore. 🤦♂️
CJ loves a laugh — you only need to follow this page for five minutes to work that one out. 😂
But there’s absolutely nothing funny about this.
Whether somebody is doing it because of a dare, their mates, TikTok or another social-media platform, or simply because they think it’ll get them likes, shares and a viral video, the potential consequences are enormous.
Imagine being the driver.
You’ve potentially got dozens of passengers behind you.
You’ve got pedestrians, cyclists and other traffic around you.
You’re responsible for safely controlling several tonnes of vehicle.
And suddenly somebody decides your bus or coach would make a fantastic surfboard. 🤦♂️🌊🚌
The driver is then expected to deal safely with a situation they never asked for while ensuring nobody else gets hurt.
One slip, one sudden movement or one wrong decision could have devastating consequences.
Deliberately attacking, damaging, climbing onto or interfering with somebody’s bus or coach isn’t harmless fun.
There’s a human being behind that steering wheel.
💙 BEHIND EVERY STEERING WHEEL IS A PERSON
They’re not simply “the bus driver” or “the coach driver.”
They’re somebody’s…
❤️ Mum or Dad
❤️ Husband, Wife or Partner
❤️ Son or Daughter
❤️ Grandparent
❤️ Brother or Sister
❤️ Colleague
❤️ Best mate
They’re somebody who got up that morning, put their uniform on, picked up the keys and went to work expecting to get their passengers safely from A to B and then go home to their family.
Nobody should have to wonder whether they’re going to be assaulted, threatened or placed in danger simply for doing their job.
🚌 TO THE OPERATORS WE WORK ALONGSIDE
We also want to reassure all the fantastic operators who trust Hit the Road and our drivers with their vehicles and passengers.
These incidents haven’t gone unnoticed.
We’ll be taking that little bit of extra care and additional safety precautions whenever we’re working on your behalf.
🔑 Keys secure.
🚌 Vehicles properly secured whenever they’re unattended.
👀 Eyes open and increased vigilance around vehicles.
📞 Anything suspicious or concerning gets reported.
And above everything else:
❤️ SAFETY BEFORE SCHEDULES — EVERY SINGLE TIME.
A timetable can be recovered.
A journey can be delayed.
A vehicle can be repaired.
A person’s life can’t be replaced.
We’re not posting this to frighten anybody, and we’re certainly not suggesting that all these incidents are connected.
Thousands upon thousands of bus and coach journeys take place safely every day across the UK and Ireland thanks to the incredible people working throughout our industry.
But when drivers are being assaulted or threatened, apparent weapons are being pointed at them, buses and coaches are being stolen or hijacked, vehicles are being attacked and people are attempting dangerous stunts involving moving vehicles, it’s worth reminding everyone to look after themselves and each other.
🙏💙 TO THOSE DIRECTLY AFFECTED
From CJ and everyone at Hit the Road, we’re sending our love, thoughts and prayers to the drivers, passengers, operators, emergency services and families affected by these recent incidents.
And particularly to the drivers involved:
Here’s one enormous CJ teddy-bear-sized hug from all of us. 🧸💙
To every bus and coach driver picking up the keys today:
Stay vigilant. Stay safe. Look after your passengers. Look after your colleagues. But please remember to look after yourself too.
Different operators.
Different uniforms.
Different vehicles.
Different routes.
Different sides of the Irish Sea.
But when something happens to one of our own, it reminds us that underneath all those different liveries…
🚌🤝💙 WE ARE ONE TRANSPORT FAMILY.
🔔💙 THE QUIET BELL — PERHAPS OUR INDUSTRY NEEDS A SYMBOL TOO 💙🔔
Most of us will recognise the idea of the Thin Line used by different emergency-service communities as a symbol of solidarity.
💙 The Thin Blue Line is widely associated with policing.
❤️ The Thin Red Line is associated with firefighters and the fire service.
💚 The Thin Green Line has also been used in connection with ambulance and other emergency-service communities.
The exact meanings of the different colours can vary, but the message behind them is something CJ has always admired:
“We remember. We support. We stand together.”
And that got CJ thinking…
Perhaps those of us in the bus and coach industry deserve our own little symbol of solidarity too.
Not another coloured line.
Something that belongs to our industry and its history.
Something incredibly simple.
🔔💙 THE QUIET BELL. 💙🔔
Think about it.
That humble little bell has travelled billions of miles alongside generations of bus passengers, conductors and drivers.
Ding.
To most passengers, it’s simply a noise telling the driver somebody wants the next stop.
But throughout generations of transport, bells and bell signals have meant much more.
Stop.
Ready.
Go.
Acknowledged.
So perhaps The Quiet Bell could become our equivalent of those Thin Lines.
Not an official badge.
Not an organisation.
Not something belonging to Hit the Road.
Simply a little symbol that anyone within our transport family could use to say:
🔔 “I’M PART OF THE TRANSPORT FAMILY — AND I STAND WITH YOU.”
A bell for the driver who’s had a frightening shift. 🔔
A bell for the colleague who’s been assaulted or threatened. 🔔
A bell for someone who’s had that one awful day and needs reminding that thousands of colleagues across the industry understand. 🔔
A bell for the engineers who keep the wheels turning.
A bell for the cleaners preparing vehicles while most of Britain and Ireland are still asleep.
A bell for the controllers, allocators and operations teams trying to hold everything together when the day goes sideways.
A bell for the operators carrying the responsibility for their passengers, staff and vehicles.
A bell for everyone else quietly keeping Britain’s and Ireland’s buses and coaches moving.
And perhaps most importantly…
🔔💙 A quiet bell for those members of our transport family who went out to work one day and never made it home.
Different companies.
Different uniforms.
Different liveries.
Different routes.
Different countries.
Different sides of the Irish Sea.
But underneath all of them…
🚌🤝💙 WE ARE ONE TRANSPORT FAMILY.
The emergency-services family has its Thin Lines.
💙❤️💚
Maybe the transport family can have its Quiet Bell. 🔔
And whenever something happens to one of our own…
🔔 THE REST OF US RING THAT BELL A LITTLE LOUDER. 🔔
Stay safe out there, guys.
Wherever today’s road takes you, let’s make sure everybody gets home safely.
CJ & everyone at Hit the Road 💙🚌
🚌🤝💙🔔
THE QUIET BELL
ONE TRANSPORT FAMILY.
