Praise for bus driver

Press, 4 November 1978, Page 21

Praise for bus driver

A Christchurch tour bus driver, Mr lan Webster, has earned high praise from a visiting Australian tour party leader, Mr T. G. Paterson, of Melbourne. Mr Paterson, a former federal secretary of the Australian Automobile Association, has had 30 years experience in public transport. He has been in New Zealand as a consultant for the Australian Church Travel Service, and travelled in both the North and South Islands with a party of 40 Australians and two New Zealanders on a Hori-

zon Holidays tour, with Mr Webster as their driver. “I think he was worldclass as a coach captain, and I have travelled with drivers in America, Britain, Europe and Australia. I couldn’t find one fault throughout the tour — and he didn’t know I was doing this survey for the church travel service,” Mr Paterson said. “As my Scottish grandmother used to say, she brought up her family of 13 by skilful neglect. That’s what he did. He was never overbearing but always in control.”

Two examples of Mr Webster’s consideration for his passengers were that he invariably parked his vehicle so that elderly people on board had no road hazards to cope with, such as crossing a road, and when turning his vehicle, he would always do it in a quiet spot and then return to the mainstream of traffic. “That is quite unusual for a driver. It is the first time I have met such consideration,” said Mr Paterson, who returned to island.