(17 Aug 2014, 10:47 am)Half Pint wrote So hang on a £30 fine? What about people who suffer from motion sickness, the heat from behind the windows (open or not) etc...they should be fined. If that was a case people with motion sickness would be house bound.
People can't help if they are sick, drunks don't have control over their body systems either if some of you are old enough to have had a night out would understand. The bus would have to come off anyway to be cleaned so really what disruption, you want a clean bus don't you? If a spare bus can be put out to transfer passengers to the destination the mileage, which is most important is not being lost! Time can be gained back while that bus is out and cleaned to which can be put to point A for the spare bus to transfer passengers which takes 2-3minutes at that?
I've personally never thrown up in a taxi - nor do I regularly travel by taxi as they're far too expensive - so I don't know what the actual penalty charge is for being sick in a taxi; however, the figure was based from this post.
People with motion sickness are more than entitled to travel - as long as they take their medication to prevent them from being sick. There are ways and means of preventing sickness providing it's down to travel sickness.
I'm inclined to suggest that all users of this forum know the effects of alcohol, and the majority will indeed have consumed alcohol in the past and they've probably been in a not-so-good state themselves before. If anyone drinks so much that they can't have control over their bodies - be it their behaviour or health - they've had far too much, and they should have stopped drinking a long time ago. This is that person's fault, so why should anyone else on that person's bus suffer - especially if they've paid x amount of money for a day, weekly, monthly or annual ticket for use on that bus?
A £30 penalty charge is more likely to prevent people from getting in such a state as described in posts related to this topic, providing it is alcohol-related.
Arriva North East don't replace buses which someone has been sick on - they merely clean the bus once it reaches the terminus or a timing point which allows enough time for the bus to be cleaned. Stagecoach North East do replace the buses, though this often comes with lost mileage (especially if someone has been sick during the day) which further inconveniences other customers, and I'm not sure what the usual procedure is for Go North East as I've never had to experience it before.
Steps should be made to reduce the amount of people being sick on buses, and I still stand by what I've said before (and the original point being made - that a penalty charge would achieve this).