Mercato San Severino, bus driver attacked: investigation underway

The bus of the line “10” had just left when one of the passengers arbitrarily decided to get off. When the driver refused, the man went berserk, hitting him and stealing his cell phone, before running away. Yet another episode of verbal and physical violence to which a public transport worker in the province of Salerno. On an afternoon like many others, the driver of the BusItalia vehicle was preparing to start another journey. At 5:45 pm on Friday, the vehicle was just waiting for passengers at the terminus of San Severino MarketAt the end of the journey he would have reached Salerno.

Only two people showed up at the terminal to take the bus to the capital. The driver started the engine but only a few meters passed before the situation became complicated. One of the passengers, described as a man between 35 and 40 years old, approached the BusItalia worker and, for no apparent reason, said he wanted to get off in the middle of an intersection, when the bus was already far from the terminus. The driver politely pointed out that that stop was not possible, especially for safety reasons. But in doing so he unleashed the anger of the passenger who, in response, began to swear at the unfortunate man, resorting to foul language.

As if that wasn’t enough, he threw himself against the doors of the bus, trying to open them manually. The driver, for his part, tried in every way to keep the situation under control, covering the buttons for opening the doors with one hand and inviting him in vain to remain calm, assuring him that the stop would be possible once they had passed the intersection. However, the man didn’t want to listen to reason and instead he also started hitting him on the hand. He then stole his cell phone, throwing it at the driver’s hand, and finally succeeded in his attempt to throw open the doors and flee. The alarm was raised and the Carabinieri arrived on the scene in no time, listening to the testimony of the victim and the other passenger, an elderly man.

The latest episode of violence on a public transport vehicle that occurred in the province of Salerno has been harshly condemned by the trade unions, in a joint statement signed by Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti and Ugl Fna: «In firmly repudiating any act of violence, we condemn the author of the deplorable gesture and in consideration of the meeting that will be held on September 5th at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport as the agenda “Contrast to the phenomenon of aggression in local public transport” we underline the need for a decisive intervention to protect the safety and security of the workers who, with skill and diligence, daily take on all the responsibilities and risks that operating on the front line entails, in order to guarantee a service to the community.».

Adding fuel to the fire is unionist Luciano Bassi of Fit Cisl, who, after expressing solidarity with his assaulted colleague, hopes “that solutions will be found to stem a phenomenon, that of violence against workers, which I would define as terrifying.”