@ Wheel nut, Superb, havent laughed as hard in ages…
Post the newspaper Mate, I will look into it if you tell me your source.
What has this to do with not speaking English? If the guy’s a bad driver that’s where the problem lies, not with his linguistic inabilities.
If knowing the language of the country you’re driving in is a pre-requisite for enjoying the right to drive there then a lot of Brit driver’s wouldn’t be going very far today. What about the guys who work for Danish/French/Dutch/whatever firms and don’t know anything other than ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘another beer please’ in those languages?
There are two issues (and perhaps an ugly third) that are getting confused here 
I suppose the choice facing the bus company was this.
Polish driver, or no driver at all.
I would be surprised if he spoke no English at all though. How would he collect the fares?
Having myself been a TruckNet moderator, I can tell you that there is absolutely no problem with you posting the report in full, or the name of the newspaper.
Vince
Yikes, I didn’t realise that this concerned a bus driver, (after all this is Trucknet.) Sorry for the mistook, I am an idiot (mental note: must learn to read properly)
Well in that case perhaps it’s only right that we expect the guy to have a reasonable grasp of the language - like you said Niall, in the instance of an emergency it might be handy … 
as been posted before about tilbury docks how could he health and safety regs 
Read this link
I’ve never had a problem driving in Poland,and my Polish doesn’t really extend far beyond “Yedna piva, proshe”
Mind you, I’m English, so I’m naturally racially superior. One of God’s chosen ones, you might say. 
Vince
Here are some phrases you can practice with 
VOCABULARY
danger - niebezpieczenstwo
driving - prowadzenie samochodu, jazda samochodem
talking - rozmawianie
bad visibility - zla widocznosc
slippery road - sliska szosa
drinking and driving (drink driving) - jazda po pijanemu
to cause an accident - spowodowac wypadek
to lose concentration - stracic koncentracje
dashboard - deska rozdzielcza
sensory overload - przeladowanie informacjami, nadmiar informacji
top of the range - najlepszy w swojej klasie
to miss visual warnings - nie zauwazac znaków ostrzegawczych
traffic lights - swiatla sygnalizacyjne
road signs - znaki drogowe
indicator - wskaznik, kierunkowskaz, kontrolka
gauge - wskaznik, miernik
switch - przelacznik
Im just going to boil some red cabbage to eat with my Kabonos
here is the newspaper report… It will be in the news room shortly
Bus tragedy just around corner
Comment
Mar 24, 2005, 08:15
Magistrates in Halesowen say they are “gravely concerned” that a Polish bus driver who crashed into a parked vehicle could neither read nor write English.
We suspect most readers will be more than gravely concerned. They will be shocked, horrified and outraged.
It was claimed in court that this driver, with five years of experience on Polish roads, had completed a four-week training course with a Wolverhampton-based bus company before being allowed on roads in the Black Country.
Really? And can anyone pass one of these four-week courses without a word of written or spoken English?
The British driving test is a stringent, two-part examination of both practical driving and theory. It is impossible to pass without a good working knowledge of English.
If that is the standard we demand of private car drivers, how can bus drivers be allowed to carry passengers without an equally stringent test?
Clearly, something is terribly wrong.
As we observed in a similar case some weeks ago, what happens to the non-English speaking bus driver who fails to understand a sign saying “low bridge ahead” and careers into it in a double-decker?
What happens if a child falls ill on a bus driven by someone who neither understands what is happening nor can follow signs to the nearest hospital?
It is all very well for a solicitor to argue, as he did in this case, that foreign commercial drivers routinely use British roads.
There is a world of difference between a Polish, French or German lorry driver transporting himself and his load, and a driver charged with the safety of hundreds of passengers per day.
We see a tragedy waiting to happen. Today, magistrates express concern. Next time it could be sympathy for the dead, the maimed and the bereaved.
expressandstar
Of course, the phrase which you will often hear uttered by Polish police officers…
“BIG PROBLEM MISTER”
Is fairly universal.
Vince
TC:
As we observed in a similar case some weeks ago, what happens to the non-English speaking bus driver who fails to understand a sign saying “low bridge ahead” and careers into it in a double-decker?
I thought all bridges were marked using recognised international signage■■?
In 18 years, I have never seen a sign reading “Low bridge ahead”
Still, racism sells newspapers…
Vince
Vince:
Mind you, I’m English, so I’m naturally racially superior. One of God’s chosen ones, you might say.Vince
Me too
Que?
Hello all.
As this is a Truck site, some people may not think that P.S.V.'s are relevant.
My concern is the lack of language skills on a Public Service Vehicle.
After all, you are not pulling a tilt full of pallets, you are a glorified Taxi.
I have helped drivers from other countries who are obviously lost in England, as I have said in other posts.
You know the score, you see a foreign wagon driving slowly and then stop and you pull over yourself and help him or her out.
Without basic English lessons, ( as Wheel Nut posted ), FOREIGN DRIVERS SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CARRY PASSENGERS !
If you were to get a job driving a Bus in Poland, and you did not speak the language, what would you do if a passenger asked you to call the Emergency Services because some-one was having an epileptic fit or an asthma attack ?
Cheers for the replies…
Niall.
Vince, don’t shoot the messenger.
Niall:
As this is a Truck site,
This is true, but this is also the Professional Drivers Forum, I personaly include Bus drivers as professional drivers
TC, I’m not.
But I wonder about the angle taken by the local newspaper in question, particularly as a great proportion of their readership will be second or third generation immigrants.
Vince
Vince - this is not a racist post , it’s about Drivers carrying passengers around in a large vehicle not speaking the language of the country that they are working in.
Niall.
I agree with you Niall, Persons that are coming here to work should at the very least have the basic knowledge of the English spoken word.