First-year student says bus driver grabbed her wrist and shouted at her while scanning NEC card.
A first-year university student in Edinburgh says she was assaulted by a bus driver after placing her National Entitlement Card (NEC) face down on the scanner.
The incident occurred about a month ago, during her first week in the city, while she was traveling on Lothian Buses service 7 during the week commencing 25th September.
The student, who asked not to be named, said she placed her NEC card face down on the scanner as she boarded the bus.
“When I picked it back up, the driver grabbed my wrist and held it there,” she said.
“He looked angry, but I had my headphones in and couldn’t hear what he was saying.
When I took them out, he shouted, ‘F***’s sake, drop your f****** card.’”
She said the driver then closely checked her card, asked for her date of birth, and eventually returned it, telling her to always place it face up so drivers could confirm she was the cardholder.
The student described the incident as frightening and said she felt physically intimidated.
Official guidance from Lothian Buses advises passengers to hold their card to the reader on top of the ticket machine when boarding, and to ask the driver if they have any questions.
The student has not reported the incident to Lothian Buses or Police Scotland.
Lothian Buses have been contacted for comment.