What is it about buses?

[madbikeboy]

Just had a arrogant bus driver give me a squeeze...

Coming around the corner from Beach Road, onto the bottom of Parnell Road, bus 1909 (link bus) decides to stop on the corner - letting someone off (thought that was illegal?).

So, after about a minute of waiting, and with a green light ahead, I start to filter past. Bus driver sees me coming, and watches me with a smirk as he closes the gap, pushing me into a fucking container truck...

So, I follow him up parnell road, he flips me the bird, and I totally lose it. He pulls into a bus stop, I pull alongside and drop a burnout to get everyone's attention so there would be witnesses if he tries to run me over, park the scoot and walk around to the door just as it closes...

I wanted to get on the bus and have a chat with him about his bullshit - skinny white guy deserved to get his stupid ass kicked.

I still smell of tire smoke... As well as the smoke coming from my ears...

I need to live in America, if I did I would have been able to pull out my handgun and shoot his tires out...!

[Cajun]

lay a complaint with the bus company mate

[Mr. Peanut]

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[madbikeboy]

Good advice, just did. The guy on the phone was very professional - he advocated that he take of things rather than me going and having words with the bus driver when he completes the loop back into Parnell again.

Cajun, I just tried blinging you, but I have to spread it around. Sounds like Friday night at a police party...

[Cajun]

make sure you follow it up, with them. later today/tomorrow to see what the driver says.

[Mully]

make sure you follow it up, with them. later today/tomorrow to see what the driver says.

Agreed. And tell them that if you do not get a satisfactory response, you will be escalating this to the LT(S)A/LTNZ/NZTA/Whatever the hell they are called now.

[madbikeboy]

Agreed. And tell them that if you do not get a satisfactory response, you will be escalating this to the LT(S)A/LTNZ/NZTA/Whatever the hell they are called now.

Hmm. I want to escalate it with Mr Bus driver himself - I figure he's the issue here, and if he had a frank and earnest discussion he might find it within himself to change his attitude. :)

[gijoe1313]

Hmm. I want to escalate it with Mr Bus driver himself - I figure he's the issue here, and if he had a frank and earnest discussion he might find it within himself to change his attitude. :)

Oh dear, I think your frank and earnest discussion may involve a selection of large handled tools you so recently purchased from Sarge...

I think as usual, that bus drivers are frustrated motorbikers at heart. That which they desire most they have to hate because they cannot reconcile their internal dilemma of being a low paid, under-appreciated, over-stressed large occupancy transport operator vs ... the freedom of riding a motorbike.

Glad to hear you are able to rant and rave about this rather than typing it out on a PDA on a gurney!

Geez MBB, between your possible future in-laws, these events and the surreal susceptibility of your acumen to the epoch breaking visions of reality, I think you need a long, long holiday. A long, long riding holiday that is!

[Ixion]

Trick in these cases is to nip well ahead to a bus stop on his route , prak the bike out of site and leave y' helmet with the bike. Then go and wait patiently at the bus stop, like a good wee punter wanting to ride the bus. When it arrives climb aboard, and then give the bastard arseholes (several, new)

[Slyer]

And holy shit some bus drivers do not know how to merge.
Bus is on the right lane me in the left lane, this is at about 5kph.
I'm slightly in front of the bus, so the bus is supposed to hold back a bit to give me room to move over, like a zip. But nope, he stays right up the arse off the car in front until I'm almost over in the other lane...

[madbikeboy]

Geez MBB, between your possible future in-laws, these events and the surreal susceptibility of your acumen to the epoch breaking visions of reality, I think you need a long, long holiday. A long, long riding holiday that is!

GIJoe - I think you might have a point. I elected to not take too much vacation over summer, I should have taken a heap of time instead... I'm coming on the Northland Loop ride on the tenth, should be a good relief...

[MsKABC]

I used to ride a bus to work regularly, and they are some of the worst drivers around! No concept of smooth driving at all, unpredictable, ignorant and many other bad habits. I'm sure I could do a better job myself :shifty: Glad you are ok :)

[slofox]

I fully understand your reactions MBB.......many years ago, when on a pushbike I got squeezed between a bus and the curb.......which was rather high just at the point of squeezure...(new word!). I had to leap off the pedalbike to save my arse from crushing death. When I rang the bus Co. they just fobbed me off...I was only a teenager at the time and didn't have the experience to go kick arse. But i still wish I had done so.....
Just by the by, with regard to gijoe1313's comment about the nature of drivers of omnibuses, I once met one who was a total hoon at heart. He used to drive the last bus at night out from Cathedral Square, Christchurch, to where I lived. I was often the only passenger and he used to blast that bus down Colombo Street as fast as it would go. He always bemoaned the fact that the buses were governed, reckoning that without the governor, they were capable of over 100mph....now THAT would have been a bus ride!!!

[madbikeboy]

I used to ride a bus to work regularly, and they are some of the worst drivers around! No concept of smooth driving at all, unpredictable, ignorant and many other bad habits. I'm sure I could do a better job myself :shifty: Glad you are ok :)

A 3 year old on a cocktail of food colouring and sugar would do a better job than this guy, don't undersell your skill level :)

It is my humble opinion that bikers make much better drivers than people who cage alone...

[MsKABC]

It is my humble opinion that bikers make much better drivers than people who cage alone...

I have always thought the same way too :yes:

[jafar]

Just had a arrogant bus driver give me a squeeze...

So, after about a minute of waiting, and with a green light ahead, I start to filter past. Bus driver sees me coming, and watches me with a smirk as he closes the gap, pushing me into a fucking container truck...

So, I follow him up parnell road, he flips me the bird, and I totally lose it. He pulls into a bus stop, I pull alongside and drop a burnout to get everyone's attention so there would be witnesses if he tries to run me over, park the scoot and walk around to the door just as it closes...

I wanted to get on the bus and have a chat with him about his bullshit - skinny white guy deserved to get his stupid ass kicked.

I still smell of tire smoke... As well as the smoke coming from my ears...

I need to live in America, if I did I would have been able to pull out my handgun and shoot his tires out...!

1/ you were 'filtering' so technically in the wrong.:doh:
2/ you could have stopped & waited another 30 seconds to move off.:msn-wink:

3/ pulling a burnout to get attention? (yeah right) :tui:
4/ he probably has to deal with irate cage drivers & 'óther' dickheads every day & your no exception.:spanking:
5/ kick his ass & see how long it is before the cops are there to throw your sorry arse inside for xmas dinner. Most if not all metro buses have a panic alarm :niceone:
6/ in America everyone assumes that everyone else is packing heat & thats because most are.... :clap:
7/ You got away lightly, if you had managed to get inside the bus & did indeed assault the driver your day would have been a lot worse. Or if you had been squeezed into the container truck you would be technically at fault.:spanking:

I'd suggest an anger management course :2guns:

Oh & merry xmas :clap:

[madbikeboy]

1/ you were 'filtering' so technically in the wrong.:doh:
2/ you could have stopped & waited another 30 seconds to move off.:msn-wink:

3/ pulling a burnout to get attention? (yeah right) :tui:
4/ he probably has to deal with irate cage drivers & 'óther' dickheads every day & your no exception.:spanking:
5/ kick his ass & see how long it is before the cops are there to throw your sorry arse inside for xmas dinner. Most if not all metro buses have a panic alarm :niceone:
6/ in America everyone assumes that everyone else is packing heat & thats because most are.... :clap:
7/ You got away lightly, if you had managed to get inside the bus & did indeed assault the driver your day would have been a lot worse. Or if you had been squeezed into the container truck you would be technically at fault.:spanking:

I'd suggest an anger management course :2guns:

Oh & merry xmas :clap:

I bet you're fun to hang out with. Are you the fire warden in your office? or just the fun police at home?

1. I wouldn't have assaulted him inside the bus, I'd have dragged him outside. Honestly, ettiquite is important.
2. I was filtering, and in the wrong - but using a bus as a battering ram is somehow right?
3. I am exceptional. I have been told twice today that I am an exceptional pain in the ass.
4. I don't need an anger management course. I need a halo of invincibility. Maybe we should all sit around and hold hands, talking about our pain. In those support groups, is handing your mancard across enough, or do they chop your balls off as well.
5. After you. No, after you. No, you go first. No, you first. Sitting behind a stopped bus, green light ahead, cagers coming up behind... - Tui, yourself.

[Swoop]

I think as usual, that bus drivers are frustrated motorbikers at heart.
Rubbish.
They are retarded, inbred, mouth-breathing, arrogant fuckwits.
I presume that most of them would readily stop at The Maori Church every time they pass a KFC.
Has anyone else noticed that the fuckers deliberately stop in the traffic lane, instead of pulling into the bus stop area? That is superb for blocking a lane of traffic while they find the correct change for the passenger who has just hopped on.
:2guns:

Edit: Or am I just describing Auckland bus drivers?

[Slyer]

That is really annoying when they don't pull over properly too...
Though much of the time it isn't their fault, it's not feasible to pull right in and out without hitting anything in some circumstances and they are often very small.

[martybabe]

Geez MBB, between your possible future in-laws, these events and the surreal susceptibility of your acumen to the epoch breaking visions of reality, I think you need a long, long holiday. A long, long riding holiday that is!


Damn, I think I love you GI Joe :clap:

MBB,I feel your pain but sadly it's a fact of life that they're all out to get us, they really are, or they simply don't give a fook, either way you just gotta chill and thank your lucky stars yer still here my mate, the only alternative is to hand out at least one bashing every ride. :kick:

[Swoop]

That is really annoying when they don't pull over properly too...
Though much of the time it isn't their fault, it's not feasible to pull right in and out without hitting anything in some circumstances and they are often very small.
If they cannot do that, then they shouldn't have a passenger service vehicle licence.

[Skyryder]

Hmm. I want to escalate it with Mr Bus driver himself - I figure he's the issue here, and if he had a frank and earnest discussion he might find it within himself to change his attitude. :)


The only way to do that is to lay a complaint with the Police. He had no right to drop a passanger off on a corner. But having said that and being a bus driver myself in the past you got no idea the kind of abuse you can get when someone forgets to get off and the driver will not stop at the passanger's whim.

Still I doubt if this will go very far other than a ticking off.


Skyryder

[pritch]

I used to ride a bus to work regularly, and they are some of the worst drivers around! No concept of smooth driving at all, unpredictable, ignorant and many other bad habits. I'm sure I could do a better job myself :shifty:

Once upon a time in another life I was a bus driver. I'm intolerant of idiots so I probably wasn't a very good one. Were you one of my passengers? :devil2:

That particular driver sounds like an arsehole though.

Did hear one story I liked from an Auckland driver. On the run down off the harbour bridge he used to look in the inside mirror and say,
"Bow to me you bastards."
Then he'd put his foot on the brake and just like magic everyone on the bus would bow to him..

[MsKABC]

Once upon a time in another life I was a bus driver. I'm intolerant of idiots so I probably wasn't a very good one. Were you one of my passengers? :devil2:


No, I'm far too young. :nya:

[Slyer]

Mint GPZ. <tenchar>

[MsKABC]

Mint GPZ. <tenchar>

Are you talking about my old one in my profile? Must be a good pic then because it wasn't mint at all! :lol: Cracks in fairing & lights, corrosion, upholstery tears.... She ran really well though and sounded awesome! Thanks though :)

[Slyer]

I'm comparing to my current GPX so pretty much everything is mint. :D

Oh, and +1 to the bus driver that believed me when I said my friends at the next stop would pay for me.

[madbikeboy]

Damn, I think I love you GI Joe :clap:

MBB,I feel your pain but sadly it's a fact of life that they're all out to get us, they really are, or they simply don't give a fook, either way you just gotta chill and thank your lucky stars yer still here my mate, the only alternative is to hand out at least one bashing every ride. :kick:

I expect stupidity, I expect ignorance, I expect distracted bimobos with kids or cell phones. What I don't like are actions that threaten my life that have intent attached to them. The worst they will get for killing me is a traffic violation which does not seem commensurate with the intent and end effect. I have no doubt there are people out there who seriously intend harm, maybe they weren't breastfed, or maybe daddy didn't love them. But when that anger, power issue, or whatever, spills into my life with actions like today, I object vocally and make a point of some sort of (over?) reaction that shows it's not okay.

Maybe next time he'll think twice. What I saw today was bullying using a large vehicle - and they only way to tackle bullying is for the bully to hit a brick wall...

[prettybillie]

Hmm. I want to escalate it with Mr Bus driver himself - I figure he's the issue here, and if he had a frank and earnest discussion he might find it within himself to change his attitude. :)

Follow it up formally - not 'informally'

[prettybillie]

Rubbish.
They are retarded, inbred, mouth-breathing, arrogant fuckwits.
I presume that most of them would readily stop at The Maori Church every time they pass a KFC.
Has anyone else noticed that the fuckers deliberately stop in the traffic lane, instead of pulling into the bus stop area? That is superb for blocking a lane of traffic while they find the correct change for the passenger who has just hopped on.
:2guns:

Edit: Or am I just describing Auckland bus drivers?

Just Auckland ones

[madbikeboy]

Follow it up formally - not 'informally'

Yeah, I'm letting the process work itself through. I almost got taken out by a bus about 4 or 5 months ago, and the bus company basically told me to piss off... Surely, stagecoach is more professional than that...

Good advice.

[imne1]

Rubbish.
They are retarded, inbred, mouth-breathing, arrogant fuckwits....
Edit: Or am I just describing Auckland bus drivers?
some/most Welly bus drivers are better than that, maybe cos they're all commies or something :-P


...
Did hear one story I liked from an Auckland driver. On the run down off the harbour bridge he used to look in the inside mirror and say,
"Bow to me you bastards."
Then he'd put his foot on the brake and just like magic everyone on the bus would bow to him..

Brilliant !!!

[martybabe]

Well it seems like a problem all over the world, not the intent to kill or Mame, I hope, just arrogant bigoted bus drivers.

It wasn't this twat was it?

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1850550&postcount=48

[madbikeboy]

Well it seems like a problem all over the world, not the intent to kill or Mame, I hope, just arrogant bigoted bus drivers.

It wasn't this twat was it?

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1850550&postcount=48

Hilarious, tried blinging you, but I've got to spread it around (the Rotorua Cop party thing, again)...

[gijoe1313]

Between Fatt Max and MBB, I think just about every situation confronting urban riding is explored, garnished with spectacular verbiage and commensurate with the depth of humour, insight to human foibles and the wealth of commonsensical allegories that is in so fecund abundance here on KB!

[madbikeboy]

Between Fatt Max and MBB, I think just about every situation confronting urban riding is explored, garnished with spectacular verbiage and commensurate with the depth of humour, insight to human foibles and the wealth of commonsensical allegories that is in so fecund abundance here on KB!

I think you and FatMax are both waaaayyy funnier than I. I am a Shaolin Monk, humble in comparison, unworthy of praise. You are the master of wit, charm, intelligence.

[nevets]

... park the scoot and walk around to the door just as it closes...


Don't they put dem nice emergency-door-open buttons on anymore? I used to like pressing those :)

[toycollector10]

I had a bad bus ride down here in Christchurch last week. The driver was using his bus like a weapon. He tailgated some dude on a blue late model BMW around Hagley Park. The old "half second following rule". IF BMW boy had gone down for any reason, and I thought the bus driver was going to give him a shunt, the bus would have just rolled right over the top of them both, bike and man, before stopping. We was going about 45 miles per hour.

I thought about reporting him to Stagecoach but I have to leave some of this stuff behind or I just get overloaded. As Jules Winfield says in Pulp Ficton, "I'm tryin', I'm trying real hard..." etc

[MsKABC]

I'd forgotten about this one....

I was on a bus on the way to work one morning when the side of our bus got rammed by this big islander dude in his 4WD!

He had pulled into the middle of the road (onto a median strip perhaps, not sure) and was waiting for the bus to go past before merging. The bus caught his front bumper as it went by and pulled it away from the vehicle. The driver was so incensed that he rammed the side of the bus, about 2m in front of where I was sitting. A nasty argument between the 2 drivers followed, meanwhile we all sat there on the bus being late for work. Scary! :gob:

[swbarnett]

He always bemoaned the fact that the buses were governed, reckoning that without the governor, they were capable of over 100mph....now THAT would have been a bus ride!!!
Best ride I've ever had in a bus was on a Swiss post bus after a track closure. They were rushing to get us from one train station to the next in time to catch the next train over some VERY windy roads - foot to the floor the whole way.

I rode buses and trains all the time over there and can't fault the drivers for anything. Our guys could learn a lot from them.

[Racer X]

Hilarious, tried blinging you, but I've got to spread it around (the Rotorua Cop party thing, again)...

LOL just got the same spread round message doing you

Oh yeah and busses are the bane of my life riding in auckland.

[Swoop]

I rode buses and trains all the time over there and can't fault the drivers for anything. Our guys could learn a lot from them.
Our bus drivers could learn a lot from a two year old kid on a new pushbike...

AK busdrivers:bash::bash::bash::ar15:

[ital916]

how come every other day there is a thread from you saying how some driver nearly kills you followed by a rant on whats wrong with the world. Now I am not protecting the faults of other drivers but with so many close calls maybe just maybe you might have to step back and go.."woah maybe it might in some cases be me". Not specifically talking about this thread but just in general. Good to see you werent squashed by the bus.

[vifferman]

I was on a bus on the way to work one morning when the side of our bus got rammed by this big islander dude in his 4WD!
My wife had the exact opposite happen!
She was on a bus driven by a big, friendly Samoan, and he went round a left-hand corner in town, swinging wide as you have to in buses to avoid running over the curb and/or taking out the lamp post. Some dude in a Falcadore ute tried cutting up the inside, then got incensed when the bus "cut him off", so he was tooting and gesticulating till the bus stopped. Then he launched into this loud tirade at the bus driver, who got out of the bus to talk to him. When the ute driver reached into the ute for what was either an axe or axe handle, the bus driver walked up to him and said, "Don't try that fkn shit with me, Mate!" SkinnyWhiteUteDriver leaps back in his ute quicksmart, then everyone continues on their way. Next thing, SkinnyWhiteUteDriver is smashing his ute into the side of the bus repeatedly as they're driving along, before driving through two red lights and pissing off into the distance.

"Well... that was interesting!" says the bus driver.
:eek5: says the vifferbabe.

[madbikeboy]

how come every other day there is a thread from you saying how some driver nearly kills you followed by a rant on whats wrong with the world. Now I am not protecting the faults of other drivers but with so many close calls maybe just maybe you might have to step back and go.."woah maybe it might in some cases be me". Not specifically talking about this thread but just in general. Good to see you werent squashed by the bus.

Every other day? Huh? Read through my posts and start counting. I'm pretty sure I'm contributing to the problem by not getting killed, just add me to your ban list if you can't stand to read the shite that I write.

[Azuras]

Hey guys, im a bus driver.

Now i dont want to take my following as saying that what this driver was right but i just want to share some perspective.

NZ has a horrible case of beat the bus syndrome, and that is because unlike in aussie busses do not get right of way, which they should for the public transport system to strive

I have seen people pull in front of busses (daily, multiple times in the day)
people cut busses off (we dont stop that fast guys...)
people pull their nose into traffic on skinny roads (so we have to stop cause we physically can not fit down the road)
and the list goes on, in short most road users act like complete retards when it comes to busses

most people dont like to use busses cause they dont get there fast enough, though they wouldnt give way to a bus so its more likely to run on time....

so all the above leads the drivers to do stupid things too. not always on purpose but often because keeping that buss off of the other road users is so mentally draining that mistakes can be made.

and as for the above case you may have been in the busses blind spot and the driver foolishly didnt head check.

just some perspective from the other side

[madbikeboy]

Most buses are actually pretty good, and I yeild for all the right reasons. This driver saw me, in a deja vu moment, grinned, and closed the door - I could see him clearly in his mirror - if I couldn't, I would not have moved into the breach. Ive been riding for a week or two now, maybe longer, my memory isn't what it used to be, but aggression stands out above SMIDSY...

[gijoe1313]

And merry xmas to one and all! Even to bus drivers, to old biddies wearing bowling hats, boi racers with baseball caps on backwards going "doof doof", asian drivers who are functionally blind, cyclists who wander around in large packs, diesel vehicles with fuel overspills onto roundabouts, roading contractors who make the road worse than what they were fixing, unsecured loads behind larger SUV/Utes/Vans and all the other plethora of things that piss us off when they haven't taken us out!

[MDR2]

Trick in these cases is to nip well ahead to a bus stop on his route , prak the bike out of site and leave y' helmet with the bike. Then go and wait patiently at the bus stop, like a good wee punter wanting to ride the bus. When it arrives climb aboard, and then give the bastard arseholes (several, new)

Better yet, once your on the bus try and sit as close to the driver as you can (or not) and take a shit on the seat. get off at next stop and walk back to bike.

[pritch]

Better yet, once your on the bus try and sit as close to the driver as you can (or not) and take a shit on the seat. get off at next stop and walk back to bike.

Some of the passengers used to smell like that before they got on the bus.

You generally aren't dealing with the upper echelons of society when you are driving a bus. The very young, the very old, some "ordinary" folk, the intellectually handicapped , the mentally ill, and the people who haven't had a job for twenty years and don't want one.

So what were you planning on doing for a living?

[ital916]

Every other day? Huh? Read through my posts and start counting. I'm pretty sure I'm contributing to the problem by not getting killed, just add me to your ban list if you can't stand to read the shite that I write.

On the contrary I was just merely suggesting many close calls could mean other culprits at fault. I have met you in person my friend and think you are the saner of the motorcyclists I have met. I meant no offense and shall certainly not be adding you to the ban list. Feel free to rant on.

[Macontour]

Merry Christmas to you all. I also drive buses, both charter/school and Tour buses for a private company. Without excusing bad/dangerous/arrogant behaviour on the part of the bus driver we often put up with the following:

People not letting us join a queue of traffic because they don't want to be "stuck" behind a bus, even though the queue is nose to tail, drivers cutting us off, not being able to get into a bus stop properly because of cars partly blocking it, the design of the stop or other buses in it, people speeding past buses stopped withn the "school" signs attached( the limit is 20 kph past a stopped school bus, impractical I know, especially on the open road, but thats the law), drivers not giving way and on and on and on.

While driving tours I regularly see people risking their lives and those of other road users to save often no more than seconds in the long run. There are the drivers who start to pass in a passing lane after passing the sign that indicates the land ends, the passing over double yellows happens so often I hardly notice it, the travelling at 80 on the open road but speeding up as soon as I attempt to get my 18 tonnes and 45 passengers past, even to the extent of looking at me and smiling as I am stuck out on the wrong side of the road before having to pull in again behind them, only to have them slow down yet again.

I have had my left hand wheels in the dirt at the side of the road with 40 passengers on board, as did the truck and trailer coming the other way, one day to give a car driver another chance at life and I still didn't think he would make it. That was 2 years ago and I still think about it occasionally. Crazy thing is that we were on the Hauraki Plains with passing opportunities for Africa!!

the cars on the motorway that have no idea how to merge and just trundle down until forced to brake and the ones that cut across 2 lanes of traffic at the last minute to exit also make the day interesting.

The problem really isn't bad bus drivers. or car drivers, or bike riders. It is that the general standard of driving is poor and people are also too late for work, too occupied on cell phone/talkback radio/ipod/passenger/scenery or whatever to properly give their attention to their driving.

There also appears to be a general lack of courtesy out there. If I am indicating that I want to move across and a car is up near my bumper in the next lane, a simple flash of the lights makes it a lot easier and safer for me to move across and will always get a wave ofr flash of hazards from me in return.

Also missing from many drivers is the common courtesy of a toot or wave or hazard flash when I go out of my way to move over or wave people past, something I do as often as I am able cos I am that kind of guy.:first:

We all need to try and be as considerate and responsible and cool headed as possible, Thursday night fangs through the countryside excepted!
Cheers

[MDR2]

Some of the passengers used to smell like that before they got on the bus.

You generally aren't dealing with the upper echelons of society when you are driving a bus. The very young, the very old, some "ordinary" folk, the intellectually handicapped , the mentally ill, and the people who haven't had a job for twenty years and don't want one.

So what were you planning on doing for a living?

I deal with the same people on a daily basis, and more often then not i'm telling them news they don't want to hear.

[MDR2]

people speeding past buses stopped withn the "school" signs attached( the limit is 20 kph past a stopped school bus, impractical I know, especially on the open road, but thats the law),


Impractical? i don't know about that. Ridiculous more like. Out here in Waitati the bus that picks the kids up and take them into town has to stop on the side of the motorway to pick kids up. People don't slow down, it's mental.

[swbarnett]

The problem really isn't bad bus drivers. or car drivers, or bike riders. It is that the general standard of driving is poor and people are also too late for work, too occupied on cell phone/talkback radio/ipod/passenger/scenery or whatever to properly give their attention to their driving.
I'm in total agreement with you mate. I've lived on the other side. I said earlier that our bus drivers could learn a thing or two from their Swiss counterparts; the same applies to all drivers. One of my strongest memories of the country was the high standard of driving generally.

[madbikeboy]

On the contrary I was just merely suggesting many close calls could mean other culprits at fault. I have met you in person my friend and think you are the saner of the motorcyclists I have met. I meant no offense and shall certainly not be adding you to the ban list. Feel free to rant on.

Sorry mate, I re-read what I wrote and it was overly harsh. I think I had PMS or something.

I was talking rationally with someone whom I respect greatly last night, he rode for 40 years in the US (including racing at a professional level), but gave it up when he migrated here; I bought my CBX for him. Anyhow, his view is that with the number of hours I'm on the road, the exposure time is greater (as it would be for most riders who commute and ride on the weekends). He views the riding thing as a balance between not enough hours, and too much exposure - there's no optimum, only bookends of risk.

Why he gave up riding here? Aggressive drivers - people who will (as he says) "fcuk with you because they can".

Anyhow, stay safe out there.

[thepom]

I,ve got a couple of mates who are bus drivers so I always yield to let them pull out and always get a wave back....priceless...

[MarkH]

Coming around the corner from Beach Road, onto the bottom of Parnell Road, bus 1909 (link bus) decides to stop on the corner - letting someone off (thought that was illegal?).

So, after about a minute of waiting, and with a green light ahead, I start to filter past. Bus driver sees me coming, and watches me with a smirk as he closes the gap, pushing me into a fucking container truck...

I don't think this would have happened to me because I would have gone past the bus a minute sooner. Why wait for that minute?

[Owl]

Hey guys, im a bus driver.

Now i dont want to take my following as saying that what this driver was right but i just want to share some perspective.

NZ has a horrible case of beat the bus syndrome, and that is because unlike in aussie busses do not get right of way, which they should for the public transport system to strive

While it's hard to relate to Auckland buses, as we have no issue in Palmy, I've been wondering when a post like this would eventuate.
The first thing I was told when driving around the Gold Coast was "If you hit a bus, you're in the wrong"! The buses have right of way and their system works exceptionally well.
Why the hell don't they adopt that system here?:confused:

[Hiflyer]

The buses have right of way and their system works exceptionally well.
Why the hell don't they adopt that system here?:confused:



Because us aucklanders are stuck in our auckland ways :Playnice: there would be waaay to many accidents haha

[swbarnett]

Because us aucklanders are stuck in our auckland ways :Playnice: there would be waaay to many accidents haha
Only in the short term. Our drivers would soon get used to it.

This is the problem with most of our bad driving behaviour - they get away with it (and I don't mean no ticket, I mean no direct physical concequences). If a few cars were squashed because they didn't give way to a bus attitudes would change pretty damn quick.

[Swoop]

Because us aucklanders are stuck in our auckland ways
Unfortunately it is not "just an Auckland" thing.

We really need to cancel all driving licences and re-test + re-issue all of them if they meet a new standard.


Change of thought:
Having a chat with my relly, that drives busses in Auckland, for a living.
"What are your thoughts on car drivers and motorbike riders, from a bus-driving point of view?"
-"A bike appears and then disappears. We rarely, if ever, discuss bikes as being a problem or hazard."
- "Car drivers... "(all the same amounts of bitching that we see here on KB...)
-"The number ONE problem for busses? Psyclists!
"Arrogance, stupidity, taking risks, etc, etc."

I found it quite interesting.

[Hiflyer]

Change of thought:
Having a chat with my relly, that drives busses in Auckland, for a living.
"What are your thoughts on car drivers and motorbike riders, from a bus-driving point of view?"
-"A bike appears and then disappears. We rarely, if ever, discuss bikes as being a problem or hazard."- "Car drivers... "(all the same amounts of bitching that we see here on KB...)
-"The number ONE problem for busses? Psyclists!
"Arrogance, stupidity, taking risks, etc, etc."

I found it quite interesting.


maybe its cos we take up less space? and maybe thats why they just dont give a crap when they pull out (that and maybe they dont see us)

[Elysium]

Hey guys, im a bus driver.

Now i dont want to take my following as saying that what this driver was right but i just want to share some perspective.

NZ has a horrible case of beat the bus syndrome, and that is because unlike in aussie busses do not get right of way, which they should for the public transport system to strive

I have seen people pull in front of busses (daily, multiple times in the day)
people cut busses off (we dont stop that fast guys...)
people pull their nose into traffic on skinny roads (so we have to stop cause we physically can not fit down the road)
and the list goes on, in short most road users act like complete retards when it comes to busses

most people dont like to use busses cause they dont get there fast enough, though they wouldnt give way to a bus so its more likely to run on time....

so all the above leads the drivers to do stupid things too. not always on purpose but often because keeping that buss off of the other road users is so mentally draining that mistakes can be made.

and as for the above case you may have been in the busses blind spot and the driver foolishly didnt head check.

just some perspective from the other side

Sorry mate but I've seen too many bus drivers here in Palmy and other cities do things like not stopping at busy pedestrian crossings, cutting off divers/bikers on multi-lane roads, not looking right(or when they do they continue on regardless if your already indicating and commited to turning) at round abouts bla bla.

Bus drivers aint going to be respected until they weed out the bad drivers or properly train those that need it. I use to take the bus when I was at school and I can tell you the drivers were better at their job then todays bus drivers. Too many in a hurry these days.

[swbarnett]

Too many in a hurry these days.
I talked to a bus driver a few years back who reckoned this was because the timetable had become unrealistic and the only way to meet it was to drive like a maniac.

[MarkH]

The bus thing is not only in Auckland, I saw a doco (on the cook strait ferry, on the way back from a motorcycle rally) about the traffic problems in London. One man was angry at a bus company whose drivers are always driving badly, one driver had gone through a pedestrian crossing and killed his wife. The doco looked at the problems caused by SUVs doing the school run, cyclists, pedestrians and buses - all trying to share the roads and the ensuing conflicts.

My own observations: the vast majority of truck drivers show consideration and drive considerately. No so with Bus & Taxi drivers - too many fuck'n arseholes! (I recently had to do an emergency stop for a taxi doing a U-turn on a busy street - he wasn't even watching for oncoming traffic).

[Ixion]

I talked to a bus driver a few years back who reckoned this was because the timetable had become unrealistic and the only way to meet it was to drive like a maniac.

For various reasons, not germane to this discussion, I conducted an experiment a few years back, wherin I used only public transport (mainly buses) for two weeks. It was hell on earth.

But I made a number of observations in the course of it (all ignored by TPTB of course). One of which was that it was simply impossible for the drivers to keep to the timetable . They just were not allowed enough time , given modern traffic. I suspect that the timetables are worked out by some pimply youth in an office, by calculation from GPS distance data and some theoretical average speeed. Rather than by an experienced driver going out and seeing how long it really takes.

The stress of trying to meet an impossible target must make the drivers inclined to take risks, and also to adopt a "bugger you I don't give a stuff " attitude.

Which is not to say that some of the drivers are not astonishingly bad. But the bus companies (which I think are VERY poorly managed, and are far more interested in collecting subsidies than providing a transport service) must take some of the blame.

[Macontour]

My Tour Coach has great mirrors, I can back it up quite happily into small gaps using them. They do have a problem however that occasionally appears. Because of their size and their placement right at eye level, on tight right hand bends my right mirror can hide a large part of the corner and I have to look around it to see the corner properly.

It can also hide cars on roundabouts when the conditions of angle of approach by me, speed of the car and its position on the roundabout and my speed relative to the car. If it can hide a car then it can certainly hide a motorcycle and maybe occasionally this situation is what leads to bikes not being seen.

Because I am aware of these problems that only happen occasionally I counteract them by being extra vigilant because the mirrors are perfect otherwise.

[longwayfromhome]

Just a few observations since the thread has widened in scope.....
1. Comment on Auckland drivers "in general" based on a comparison...in Sydney they are aggressive but predictable (e.g. merging), while in Auckland they are less aggressive but far less predictable...for many people who have experienced both, the predictability is precious, especially for bike riders.
2. Comment on American/guns/driving, based on riding there for 11 years....the drivers are a lot more courteous, it becomes a habit, in fact they can be too courteous and it becomes counterproductive to efficient travel. Also, signs of aggression in drivers are taken seriously...one time I was in the wrong, got tooted, and flipped the guy off in a "yeah, whatever" response...he went kinda crazy trying to get me to stop and confront me, which I might have done to apologize except his reaction was so over the top to the personal slight I gave him that I decided discretion was the better part of valor. Then it happened a couple of other times where I was in the right, with the same reaction from the other driver...crazy over-compensation...I had to give up the practice. This strange mixture of passivity-aggression, politeness-crazyness forces most drivers into a "polite" mode of driving where an obvious shaking of the head as a commentary on the other's driving is the equivalent of our hanging out the window and slagging off the other driver.
3. I was in a Beachhaven bus once years ago, at the bottom of Onewa Rd, merging for the red light. The bus stopped, there was some shouting and a cage driver wrenched the bus driver's window open, whacked the driver in the head and drove off....guess he was American :-). Those bus drivers can be very frustrating.
4. Be that as it may, I have observed this in many drivers in Auckland.....merging position/sequence is "generally" decided by the position of the front of your car...if you are in front then its generally you who is next in the resultant single lane of traffic. But for some reason, people want to apply another rule to buses and seem to think that if they are simply beside a bus, then that is sufficient and the equivalent of them being ever so slightly in front of the bus. Its a tad unreasonable. Its even better when they pull up beside a truck at the end of a high-speed passing lane out in the country and proceed to play what-if with their passenger's lives and see who has the stronger nerve between them and the truck driver.

Filtering around buses, for me the rule is to zip by them in the shortest period possible, not idle down and give them time to do whatever..miss seeing you, look past you, deliberately squeeze you. On a big bike like the LT you have even less chance to escape than on regular bikes.