What is it about buses?

[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.

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?

[Hiflyer]

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

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