• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Use of the radio on local bus/coach services?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Martin2012

Member
Joined
17 Jul 2012
Messages
657
If anyone is able to answer I would be interested to find out, are there any rules regarding the drivers playing music(eg through the radio or on a CD) on public bus and coach services?

Over the last couple of weeks I've been on a few journeys on bus services that have been worked by a coach and the driver has had the coach radio playing for the duration of the journey.

Are drivers within their right to choose to play the on board coach radio or would passengers be within their right to say something if they felt it was too loud or if they wanted it turned off.

My understanding is that National Express drivers are not permitted to use the coach radio. However in the past I have been on journeys where it has happened. Seemed to be a case of the driver had it on at a low volume so that they could be kept updated on the traffic. Does anyone know if National Express drivers are actually permitted to use the radio for this purpose?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Titfield

Established Member
Joined
26 Jun 2013
Messages
1,666
If music is being played (ie using the radio) then a PRS (Performing Rights Society) Licence is required.

The PRS are quite hot on this sort of thing.
 

Martin2012

Member
Joined
17 Jul 2012
Messages
657
I guessed that some sort of licence would be required. Would it be the case that if the operator has a PRS licence, it would allow music to be played at any time on board that vehicle or would it only be valid in certain situations? Eg when the coach was on certain types of duties or if there were no passengers on board?
 

W-on-Sea

Established Member
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
1,333
There is very well-respected independent operator (who I won't name, as I can only presume they were breaking the law), that, when they first started operating passenger services (almost 30 years ago now...), regularly played cassettes of pop music over loudspeakers on their buses. The buses had previously been used on tourist services, and the cassette players had been used to provide a running commentary. (No individual headphones in those days, just public loudspeakers for all...)
 

quarella

Member
Joined
7 Dec 2009
Messages
815
The firm I drove for had a PRS licence. School runs I would have the radio on. Private Hires it would be up to the hirer. On bus routes I would switch the radio off if I picked up any passengers.
 

Busaholic

Veteran Member
Joined
7 Jun 2014
Messages
14,029
Two observations - some companies may not allow their drivers to play radios,etc, and road traffic laws apply so if a driver gets distracted by a radio, or if one was playing at the time of an accident or something happening on the bus it could well lead to specific charges.
 

edwin_m

Veteran Member
Joined
21 Apr 2013
Messages
24,793
Location
Nottingham
According to the PRS site, no licence is required if the radio in a vehicle can only be heard by the driver. I was a bit surprised to read that a PRS licence is needed at all to play radio in public, since the radio station already needs to have one.
 

Teflon Lettuce

Established Member
Joined
22 Aug 2013
Messages
1,750
My guess would be that if the radio is fitted then it is legal for anyone in the vehicle to hear the radio... after all if it was illegal to have the radio playing for all to hear why would manufacturers be allowed to install them? As for cassettes/cd's I would assume they were legal on a private hire or tour but not on a stage carriage service... the driving force being the legal definition of "public" pertaining to pcv legislation

Talking of legislation, the conduct of drivers, passengers and conductors act 1936 specifically forebade drivers from playing radios in the cab (due, I believe, to the risk of explosion from fuel) I wonder if there is still legislation in place to stop a driver from playing a free standing radio in the cab.. or for that matter listening to an mp3 player?
 

quarella

Member
Joined
7 Dec 2009
Messages
815
My guess would be that if the radio is fitted then it is legal for anyone in the vehicle to hear the radio... after all if it was illegal to have the radio playing for all to hear why would manufacturers be allowed to install them? As for cassettes/cd's I would assume they were legal on a private hire or tour but not on a stage carriage service... the driving force being the legal definition of "public" pertaining to pcv legislation

From the "Safe and responsible bus driving" part of the Driver and Vehicle Standards agency website.
https://www.safedrivingforlife.info/professionals/im-professional-driver/pcv-knowledge-centre/safe-and-responsible-bus-driving

Distractions

More often than not, driving isn’t the only thing you’ll be thinking about when you’re behind the wheel. It’s easy to be distracted by talking to a passenger, adjusting a satellite-navigation system or changing settings on the radio.

Losing your concentration, or even just taking your eyes off the road briefly, can quickly cause an incident. It’s up to you as the driver to keep your concentration on driving.

To help you do this,

programme your satellite-navigation system before you start your journey
remind any passengers that you may not be able to talk to them when you need to concentrate on driving
don’t play music loudly.
NB my bold.
It is a PCV licence. Same test/licence whatever work it leads to- Bus or one of the variety of types of coach driving with no differentiation between listening to a radio/music. It is down to company policy. There used to be something called common sense but now it needs to be written down in the company rules and regs.
 

Polarbear

Established Member
Joined
24 May 2008
Messages
1,705
Location
Birkenhead
This is quite interesting - I must admit I had always assumed that it would be against PSV regulations for drivers to listen to music but now I know. However, the laws regarding playing music to an audience (more than 5 people I think) will still apply & it's down to the company to hold the relevant license.

My one concern from a passenger point of view that if a driver plays music & it can be heard by the passengers, it rather undermines their authority if another passenger then decided they want to play music loudly. It's hugely annoying for me & I've had to complan on a few occasions where this has happened. Yes, there are notices on buses to say that playing music out loud is prohibited, but if the driver does it, what can you do?
 

AM9

Veteran Member
Joined
13 May 2014
Messages
14,191
Location
St Albans
I have seen a fair number of coach drivers using MP3 players etc, so I would assume it is legal.

If by 'MP3 player' you mean that the driver had a portable device and was listening to it by headphones, then that is illegal. All drivers are required to be able to hear external traffic warnings. i.e. horns. This does raise the issue of stereo hands-free headsets for mobile phones breaking that rule.
 

quarella

Member
Joined
7 Dec 2009
Messages
815
If by 'MP3 player' you mean that the driver had a portable device and was listening to it by headphones, then that is illegal. All drivers are required to be able to hear external traffic warnings. i.e. horns. This does raise the issue of stereo hands-free headsets for mobile phones breaking that rule.

The wearing of headphones does not necessary mean you are unable to hear external traffic warnings. If I can hear another passenger's music played through ear phones from 8' away over my own music on a moving train then I could certainly hear a horn. However from a bus driving point of view I think it looks unprofessional to have a cable dangling out of the ear and as a passenger I will take my earphones out when paying my fare.
 

Liam

Established Member
Joined
29 Dec 2010
Messages
1,246
According to the PRS site, no licence is required if the radio in a vehicle can only be heard by the driver. I was a bit surprised to read that a PRS licence is needed at all to play radio in public, since the radio station already needs to have one.

Does this apply to cars and taxi's too?
 

cjmillsnun

Established Member
Joined
13 Feb 2011
Messages
3,254

theshillito

Member
Joined
29 Jan 2014
Messages
284
Location
Crewe
A driver on one of the local routes near me regularly plays music on the evening services when there's few people on-board. They said they will turn it down/off if asked to, but remarked that they've had some good conversations with people due to the music played and it's rare that they're asked to turn it off.

However, recently one passenger has taken it upon themselves to, whenever the driver was playing music, playing music from their phone louder in response. Whenever the driver was not playing music, the passenger would not play music in return. As such, the driver was forced to stop playing music upon sight of this particular passenger, but this is the only person who's had an issue with it.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top