‘Nobody should be put in that position’: A mother’s fight for answers after son dragged away by Ventura Bus.
Exclusive: Police refused to take a statement. The bus company withheld footage. So a mother walked the street alone, knocking on strangers’ doors, searching for proof that her son was near killed.
On the morning of March 16, a driver in Wheelers Hill watched in shock as a child clung to the outside of a moving bus on Brandon Park Drive. She leaned on her horn to try to alert the driver, but the bus kept going.
Instead, it continued for roughly 350 metres with 12‑year‑old Nathaniel hanging from the rear doorway, finally pulling in at the next scheduled stop as if nothing were amiss.
In her interview with the Monash Herald, Nathaniel’s mother, Grace, recounted not only the frightening events of March 16 but what she describes as a troubling lack of urgency afterward — from police who turned her away to a bus company she says deflected responsibility, and a safety system she believes is fundamentally broken.
Thirty seconds of terror on a suburban street
Nathaniel had been catching the bus to high school on his own for about two months. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on March 16 until he went to step off through the rear doors at his usual stop just after 8am.
As he moved to exit, the doors closed on him. His hand was trapped inside; his backpack, still half over one shoulder, was caught in the gap. The rest of his body was outside the bus.
Grace told the Monash Herald her son tried to run alongside the bus as it pulled away, but quickly realised he couldn’t keep up. He lifted his legs and held on.
Photo: Provided to Monash Herald by Nathanials Mother Grace.
A woman driving behind the bus saw what was happening, leaned on her horn and took photos. Moments after the bus coming to a stop, Grace received a text from Nathaniel saying he’d been in an accident. She later took him to a doctor to be assessed and he was confirmed to have suffered serious psychological harm.
A mother’s investigation
What followed, Grace told the Monash Herald, was a weeks-long battle to piece together what happened; largely on her own.
She walked the length of Brandon Park Drive, knocking on door after door, asking residents whether their security cameras had captured anything. House after house had nothing. Luckily, a hand full of properties yielded footage
Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald
Grace told the Monash Herald she then attempted to obtain the bus’s own onboard recording. Ventura confirmed to her that internal footage of the incident exists, but the company has not provided it to the family.
On the Monday following the incident, Grace called Ventura more than ten times before she was able to reach a customer service representative. She told them she wanted to lodge a formal complaint and file an incident report.
She later received a call from an executive general manager, who advised her the driver had been stood down and that the bus had been taken off the road pending safety checks.
A week after the incident, during which Grace told the Monash Herald she had consulted six lawyers, she received a further call from a Ventura manager. Grace advises that the company’s chief operating officer was also in the room for the conversation.
‘No faults found’
Despite the severity of the incident, Grace said Ventura informed her that its investigation had identified no faults with the bus’s rear-door sensor. The vehicle, she was told, had been returned to active service
Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald
Grace told the Monash Herald the rear door relied on a single sensor positioned in the centre of the frame. Because Nathaniel was trapped below that point, the system detected nothing. No alarm sounded and no warning reached the driver. The only alert came from a motorist behind the bus, and it went unheeded.
That a bus carrying schoolchildren could drag a child 350 metres with no technological failsafe intervening and then be declared fit to return to the road represents, in Grace’s view, a serious and unresolved safety failure.
“The response has been dismissive,” she told the Monash Herald.
The driver has since been removed following the companies internal review process. Ventura Bus issued a statement describing the incident as “very distressing” and pledging a review of its driver training programs.
Turned away by the Police
Grace said she had also gone to the Glen Waverley police station to report the incident but was turned away.
Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald
She said officers told her the matter was civil rather than criminal, did not take a statement and advised her to lodge a complaint and seek legal advice if she wished to pursue civil action.
Victoria Police has since confirmed it is aware of the incident and that inquiries are under way. The force said the matter was not formally reported at the time, a characterisation Grace disputes, noting she attended the station in person and was not permitted to make a report.
A boy who shakes at the sight of a bus
Nathaniel’s physical injuries were limited to minor bruising. His mother is more concerned about the psychological effects.
Grace said her son is now on a mental health plan, attends regular counselling and receives additional support at school.
She said he becomes visibly distressed when he sees buses with advertising similar to the one involved in the incident, and he no longer feels able to use public transport without an adult accompanying him.
A child who had recently begun travelling independently now requires support to board a bus.
Political response
Grace said she has raised the matter with Monash City Councillor Elisha Lee and contacted the office of local MP Eden Foster.
Premier Jacinta Allan described the available footage as “shocking” and said she had asked the relevant minister to ensure the Transport Accident Commission made contact with the family. TAC executive general manager Katherine Gobbi confirmed the commission was engaging with the family but did not provide further detail.
Photo: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Grace said the official responses to date have been slow and have not provided the clarity or accountability she is seeking. Hundreds of parents rely on public bus services to transport their children safely to and from school. The incident involving Nathaniel has raised questions about the systems and safeguards in place to prevent similar events.
The circumstances described by his family point to several areas of concern. The door sensor did not detect an obstruction. The driver did not see the child in the doorway. A warning from another motorist did not prompt the bus to stop. Each of these elements is now under scrutiny.
Transport operators, including Ventura Bus, are required to meet safety standards that cover both vehicle condition and driver training. When an incident occurs, operators are expected to investigate, report their findings and demonstrate that risks have been addressed before a vehicle returns to service.
The response has also highlighted issues within the broader regulatory framework. The standards governing door‑safety mechanisms on buses, and the processes for reporting and assessing incidents involving passengers, are likely to attract further examination. The family’s experience at a local police station has raised additional questions about how such matters are classified and handled.
Stakeholders have called for clearer protocols, improved technology and stronger oversight to ensure incidents of this nature are properly investigated and that any systemic issues are identified.
For now the Grace and her family are left with questions unanswered and an overwhelming distrust in the Victorian Public Transport Network.