Bus passengers getting high force drivers off sick over fumes

Unruly passengers are sniffing solvents on buses to get high and the fumes have forced two drivers to leave work sick in the past week. The union says one driver showed “all the signs of being high”.

UNRULY passengers are sniffing solvents on Brisbane buses to get high and the fumes have forced two drivers off sick in past week, according to the union.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union assistant state secretary Tom Brown said chroming started during the Christmas holidays on two Inala bus routes, the 100 and 110, and “spread from there”.

He said the same routes “constantly” came up for fare evasion, driver abuse and assault.

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Chroming is when someone inhales solvents or other household chemicals to get high, and it can cause immediate effects like drowsiness, lack of co-ordination, and headaches.

The RTBU has sent an alert to warn its members about chroming, which insists drivers and passengers “need to be breathing clean air”.

Chroming on Brisbane buses started during the Christmas school holidays and two more incidents have been reported this year.

Mr Brown said the council issued a local alert to drivers on the Inala routes during the holidays but not to all drivers because it believed the issue would “die down”.

“But it has not. The chroming craze has spread to other areas, catching many drivers unaware of how to approach it,” he said.

The fumes can affect not only the drivers, but the other passengers as well.

Mr Brown said a driver was relieved from duty after a chroming incident on March 11 on route 100 inbound and another on March 6 on route 210 inbound from Cannon Hill.

The March 11 incident was reported mere hours after Brisbane’s public transport boss Adrian Schrinner confirmed chroming was a problem during the school holidays but only one incident had been reported this year.

Cr Schrinner said the council increased security on the 100 and 110 buses to combat chroming over the holidays but that ended on February 10.

The RTBU has sent an alert to all its members warning them of chroming on Brisbane City Council buses. Picture: SUPPLIED

Mr Brown said the driver most recently affected by chroming visited his doctor and was advised to take a week of sick leave after “displaying all the signs of being high”.

He said the same driver became ill after a chroming incident in November.

“Last Wednesday, March 6, two men boarded an inbound 210 at Stanley St, East Brisbane, smelling like “old house paint” but the driver could see nothing but an open coke can,” he said.

He said they had been off work since then and she described the sickness as feeling like “her head was spinning for days — like a huge hangover”.

Cr Schrinner the council would “never be able to outspend dangerous behaviour” but it was “doing everything in its power to make Brisbane buses safer”.

This included installing CCTV on buses, additional emergency response vehicles, extra security guards and the recent nine month bus driver barrier trial.

“If a bus driver reports chroming on their bus, council can seek police assistance and relieve the driver from duty,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the council was “doing everything in its power to make Brisbane buses safer”.

Cr Schrinner said as well as providing extra security on the buses until February 10, the council had asked TransLink on January 2 to provide additional security officers.

“However, no response has been received to date,” he said.

Cr Charles Strunk (Forest Lake) said it was astounding that anyone would sniff solvents on a bus, where fumes could get into the airconditioning and affect other passengers.

“Chroming has been an issue with youths for a long period of time through this corridor but not on buses,” he said.

“The police and the youth services (in the community) have been pretty proactive in ensuring retailers were not selling solvents to kids and that has died down.”

South-West Satellite contacted Inala Police Station and was told they were “not aware” of the issue.