Not just a stone’s throw
Dundee school pupils teamed up with emergency services and bus operators to show how passengers, drivers and pedestrians can all be affected by stone throwing.
A new film is aiming to highlight just how dangerous throwing stones at buses can be.
Dundee school pupils teamed up with emergency services and bus operators to show how passengers, drivers and pedestrians can all be affected.
The short film shows a double decker bus targeted by a youth who throws a brick at the vehicle, breaking the window and injuring passengers, before the bus swerves towards a young mum pushing a buggy.
The content for the DVD was scripted, acted, filmed and edited by teachers and young people from Connect 5, with direction from managers from the bus company and emergency services.
Kevin Philip, community firefighter, said: “We felt it was important to make the film as real as possible and that can only be achieved by involving the young people it affects.
"We wanted to show clearly the consequences of anti-social behaviour for everyone involved – the passengers, driver, bystanders and also the person throwing the stone.
“Our scenario is hard-hitting, but it’s real – people are hurt when stones are thrown at buses – and that’s the key message we want to get across to Dundee’s young people.”
The DVD will be shown at secondary schools across the city. It is hoped the educational program will help reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour and stone-throwing.
Jo Burnett, health and safety co-ordinator for Xplore Dundee, said: “Stone-throwing can cause immediate damage, to the bus and to the people inside who are hit by glass. But it has further-reaching consequences – the bus driver can be traumatised if there’s an accident, services are delayed, and it costs money to replace damage, which could be invested elsewhere.
“Not to mention the fact that young people caught throwing stones at our buses are brought to justice.
"We have a responsibility to our passengers to ensure that anyone found to be compromising safety on our services is stopped, and we work closely with Police Scotland to identify and prosecute offenders.”