How do owners of classic double decker buses make sure to avoid low heights when driving?

[Joseph T]

From what I heard, Google Maps apparently has a subscription feature for businesses so employees driving large vehicles can't be routed via low bridges/tunnels. If that's true, is that what classic bus owners use or do they use different methods alongside their own memory?

 

[greenline712]

From what I heard, Google Maps apparently has a subscription feature for businesses so employees driving large vehicles can't be routed via low bridges/tunnels. If that's true, is that what classic bus owners use or do they use different methods alongside their own memory?

It's called the Mark One Human Eyeball, plus a large dollop of common sense!!
Seriously, though ... if it's your bus, then you research the route in advance. If there is a bridge along the route, then there are several ways to check it out.

 

[Nym]

Beaten to the answer of, “By knowing how to drive!”
Not crashing into stuff is kind of a core competency for that.

 

[Ghostbus]

By being extremely aware that you're driving a much loved vehicle that you've poured substantial amounts amounts or your own time, money and effort into.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

At a basic, non-technical level you can buy a road atlas that has low bridges etc. marked on it.

 

[Welly]

This happened to a vintage Routemaster on a private hire, it was driven into one of those roof things you see outside hotel entrances.

 

[StoneRoad]

I would say - apart form knowing how high it is at the time of the proposed trip - is to research the route, perhaps drive along the roads with a dashcam or navigator to record such details.

 

[bspahh]

At a basic, non-technical level you can buy a road atlas that has low bridges etc. marked on it.

You can also get SatNavs where height limits are marked up. On Amazon, these start at £50. Personally, I would go for a brand name one (Garmin, TomTom etc), which cost from ~ £170.

 

[Bornin1980s]

I didn't know TomTom was still going. I guess would be advisable to set it to the detailed computer voice, not BRIAN BLESSED!

 

[RJ]

Plan the route on Google Maps, use Streetview to check the heights of each bridge and tunnel. They carry railway lines, roads, rivers/canals etc.

 

[ajrm]

At the risk of stating the obvious, the height of the vehicle must be marked in the cab, so you make sure you know the height of your vehicle and you observe the height warnings on overbridges. High vehicles and low bridges existed long before Google Maps was invented!

 

[Taunton]

Having had some experience of this with a colleague, bridges etc are the easy bit and readily identified. The real problems are trees, which grow over time, even since you last drove it along the road a year or so ago. They can even break upstairs side windows as well as hit the rooftop. A useful pointer away from home territory is to only use roads which are served by regular double deckers.

 

[RJ]

At the risk of stating the obvious, the height of the vehicle must be marked in the cab, so you make sure you know the height of your vehicle and you observe the height warnings on overbridges. High vehicles and low bridges existed long before Google Maps was invented!

Not everybody sees the world in the same way. A percentage of drivers genuinely believe that they do not need to observe signs and hazards once they've been given a route to do, so have no hazard perception should they find themselves off route.

A percentage of drivers cannot do mental arithmetic at the level required to determine if the plated vehicle height is less than the bridge height. These are the drivers who get out and visually check if the bus will fit under a bridge. Then get back into the bus and crash it into the bridge. Some operators defend drivers who prefer to check bridge height on visual perception rather than comparing plate and bridge heights, and don't see them as a bridge strike risk.

Some bus operators do not assess drivers to check for these approaches, even though time has shown repeatedly that there are drivers who view these behaviours as normal.

 

[Buzby]

I’ve been driving a coachbuilt motorhome for the last 30 years and have always been vigilant that my height of 3.15m whilst not large can cause issues. The flip side was a bridge local to me, that I knew Was not an issue. Spin forward a few years and I went through, only this time scraped my roof. So what changed?

The council, in an effort to fix the drainage relaid fresh tarmac WITHOUT scraping off the old stuff, reducing headroom by 8cm. They did not update the clearance signage until after I complained. The knock-on effect was they replaced ALL the signs in the area (reducing the clearances shown) whether the carriageway had been altered or not!

 

[Harpo]

The real problems are trees, which grow over time, even since you last drove it along the road a year or so ago. They can even break upstairs side windows as well as hit the rooftop.

Acquaintances who had an ex-London Transport RT carried a long lightweight cane constructed to the height of the bus. With a taller than average bus and a roof dome made of aluminium, trees were the most frequent cause of checks.

 

[Busmansholiday]

Even when driving single decks (both preserved and in service), I was taught from day one to treat any bridge with caution.and proceed under it with caution. There's also two types of warning signs before the bridge. Triangular means you can pass under it even if you are higher (there's generally 6" spare but obviously at your own risk) and circular where it's illegal to pass under it if the advertised heigh of your vehicle is greater. We had an arched railway bridge on one route where if we used a coach on stage it was technically higher than the markings (triangular sign) but actually fitted under with a decent clearance.

Simply put, know what you are driving and don't risk it.