'I was shocked and in pain': Transtar coach driver closes doors on woman's arm, making her fall off bus

A bus trip back to Singapore has left this mum bruised and battered, and her daughter traumatised.

The coach bus driver shouted at her and even slammed the doors shut on her arm on Tuesday (Dec 12), Candy Tan said in a post to Facebook group Complaint Singapore.

The 43-year-old and her daughter were travelling from JB Sentral to Singapore Expo that evening.

When the bus arrived, Tan said she encountered the first red flag.

She asked the driver if she could stow her belongings in the luggage compartment of the bus but he did not allow her to do so.

He even shouted at her and her 10-year-old daughter when they showed him their e-tickets, Tan said.

Left with no choice, the woman had to carry her luggage on board the bus, pushing it all the way to the seat at the back of bus.

'Not my problem': Bus driver

Stopping at Woodlands Checkpoint to get through customs, Tan and her daughter waited for all other passengers to alight before they did.

As she was stepping off the bus, however, the driver abruptly closed the bus' doors shut, clamping down on her arm, causing her to drop her luggage outside the vehicle.

He then began to drive off, causing her to fall off the bus, hitting the tarmac and rolling.

Perhaps noticing what had happened, the bus driver came to a stop and reopened the doors, allowing Tan's terrified daughter to hop off.

"I was in pain and I saw my girl wailing, 'Please help my mum, why did you drive off when she and I haven't gone down?'

"My heart almost broke - my girl had to deal with an unhelpful and irresponsible adult while I was helpless and almost crawling," Tan recalled. "I was scared this driver would use force on her."

The driver did get out of the bus, but it wasn't to help her - instead, he allegedly shouted: "You all get out already - Why I cannot move! Not my problem!"

"I was shocked and in pain," Tan said.

He then drove off without administering any aid to Tan. Instead, it was passers-by and security staff who helped the injured woman to her feet.

Tan said she did not get a response when she tried contacting Transtar so she called the police.

'The pain is escalating': Tan

The tumble Tan took injured her shoulder, neck, shins and spine, she told AsiaOne.

"One of my legs hurts a lot whenever I step on the ground… Despite Khoo Teck Puat Hospital mentioning that there's no broken bones… everywhere feels sore," she said.

Although she was given three days of medical leave, she told AsiaOne that she's seeking a second opinion because "the pain is escalating".

This incident has left both mum and daughter traumatised, they said, adding that buses in general now instill fear in them.

"I haven't slept much because the whole scene kept replaying: 

"Me, helpless on the cold floor, looking at my girl wailing at the driver and asking him to come down and help, and him, getting down to shout at us - he challenged us while I was in pain," Tan said.

Transtar has since reached out to her after she made the Facebook post, informing her that they have submitted footage to the police pending investigation, Tan shared with AsiaOne.

She also asked Transtar to check if the bus' security cameras could capture the mother-daughter duo, as she felt that this incident wasn't a result of the driver being unable to see them.

Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the police said that they were alerted to this incident at 7.30pm that evening.

A 43-year-old woman was conveyed conscious to the hospital, while a 44-year-old man was arrested for negligent act causing hurt. Police investigations are ongoing.

AsiaOne has contacted Transtar but has yet to receive a response at the time of writing.

ALSO READ: 'Infested with cockroaches': Coach driver allegedly refuses to swap passenger's seat after latter finds bugs crawling about

khooyihang@asiaone.com