Virtual reality used to highlight the dangers of throwing missiles at public transport

A Victimless Crime tells the story of Noah, who is pressured by a friend to throw a brick at a bus, which shatters a window and covers a mother and a baby with glass.

The injured woman is consoled by a bus driver, who is left shaken by the incident and sees a knock-on impact on his life. Noah gets in trouble with the police and he is left in a cell facing an uncertain future.

The video was commissioned by the Greater Manchester TravelSafe Partnership and created with the help of virtual reality (VR) production company RiVR.

Secondary school pupils and college students are being shown the film through VR headsets, which puts them in the shoes of Noah, played by Waterloo Road’s Adam Ali, to drive home the consequences of his actions.

While the story is fictional, it is based on real-life incidents that have happened across Greater Manchester’s public transport network.

In the year to November 2023, the GM TravelSafe Partnership recorded 271 incidents of missiles targeting buses and 100 incidents involving trams.

Stones, bricks and rocks were the most common type of objects thrown, but all kinds of projectiles have been used, including eggs, fireworks, glass bottles, fence panels, scaffolding joints, a chair, traffic cones and a bicycle.

Missiles have also been fired from air rifles, BB guns, pellet guns and catapults.

These incidents can have a huge impact on the physical and mental well-being of passengers and drivers, while also having a knock-on effect on services with vehicles being taken out for repairs.

In 2023 young people were responsible for 42 per cent of all reported incidents on buses and the Metrolink, with 45 per cent of reported incidents at bus stations and interchanges also being attributed to youths.

Vernon Everitt, transport commissioner for Greater Manchester, said: “Everyone using or working on our public transport and active travel network is entitled to be, and feel, safe at all times. Crime and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.

“While the overwhelming majority of young people who travel by bus, tram or train do so with respect for fellow passengers and hard-working transport staff, there are some who persistently engage in anti-social behaviour without really considering the consequences their actions can have.

“These consequences are laid bare in this hard-hitting, immersive film which is being shown to young people across Greater Manchester, but the message is one that applies to everyone who uses public transport. I would urge everyone who sees the film to take its message onboard.”

The 30 VR headsets were bought by the GM TravelSafe Partnership through the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund, which allows local authorities, transport bodies and police forces to invest in crime and anti-social behaviour prevention projects.

Kate Green, TravelSafe Partnership manager, said: “By using VR, which has become more prominent in the everyday lives of young people along with gaming and social media, we can deliver crucial messages to young people in an immersive and realistic way which we hope creates a more permanent memory of what we’re trying to get across.”