talking to bus drivers: discussion

[Clip]

each to their own.

be a stickler I aint bothered.

in the sense that I do agree but I also disagree at the same time if that makes sense....

Thats fine with me.

Your situation is the same as spotters who go lineside or off the platform edges. Its not called being a stickler, its called being safe.

You're right Ivo - it was Lisa. I hunted through till I saw the episode this morning

 

[455driver]

I'm aware that it is a rule, it just surprised me that people would consider it such a distraction that it became dangerous. It doesn't tally with my own experiences.

Bus driver talking to a passenger, pedestrian walks out in front of bus, pedestrian gets hit.
When interviewed by police the pedestrian says that "the bus didnt stop because driver was distracted by talking to a pssenger", who is at fault, pedestrian for walking out in front of bus or bus driver because they were "distracted"?

That is why you dont talk to the driver.

 

[MCW]

Thats fine with me.

Your situation is the same as spotters who go lineside or off the platform edges. Its not called being a stickler, its called being safe.

agreed on that! although I am not brave enough to go Lineside unless I'm behind a fence in a field somewhere!:roll:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Bus driver talking to a passenger, pedestrian walks out in front of bus, pedestrian gets hit.
When interviewed by police the pedestrian says that "the bus didnt stop because driver was distracted by talking to a pssenger", who is at fault, pedestrian for walking out in front of bus or bus driver because they were "distracted"?

That is why you dont talk to the driver.

I agree and disagree on this one. to be honest you have to be a blithering idiot to not notice a bus or just blatantly walk out in front of it.

as much as I agree that talking to a bus driver is a distraction and also a somewhat safety hazard, isn't it the same for talking to your mate who is driving who then has an accident?

as much as that comment is the truth, it is also far too broad and can apply to anyone driving any vehicle.

 

[Deerfold]

I agree and disagree on this one. to be honest you have to be a blithering idiot to not notice a bus or just blatantly walk out in front of it.

And yet people do walk out in front of buses. I've been on a few where the driver has had to brake sharply when someone has stepped out without looking.

Sometimes when people have been hit, they want to get rid of the buses (I have every sympathy with his injuries, but suspect people may want to be able to get to Oxford Street by bus - they had reduced the number of buses going along Oxford Street)-

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/tran...ford-street-to-be-pedestrianised-8167137.html

 

[ralphchadkirk]

MCW, people still walk out in front of a large green and yellow van which has flashy blue lights on and is making very loud noises. If they can miss that, then surely they will miss a bus!


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[MCW]

And yet people do walk out in front of buses. I've been on a few where the driver has had to brake sharply when someone has stepped out without looking.

Sometimes when people have been hit, they want to get rid of the buses (I have every sympathy with his injuries, but suspect people may want to be able to get to Oxford Street by bus - they had reduced the number of buses going along Oxford Street)-

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/tran...ford-street-to-be-pedestrianised-8167137.html

well in Leicester we have Charles Street, where most of the buses have to go down for terminating and starting routes, the junction with Humberstone gate east is pretty damn bad, I have witnessed some very VERY close near misses (I don't talk to the driver at this point!). The majority of drivers bomb it across the junction now, and pip their horns more, it does seem to be working, slowly but surely more people are waking up to the fact that an 11 ton peice of metal will bloody hurt if it hits you! :roll:

MCW, people still walk out in front of a large green and yellow van which has flashy blue lights on and is making very loud noises. If they can miss that, then surely they will miss a bus!

and Bright red Lorries with Blue lights! When its a cop car everyone stops dead.... weird...

 

[34D]

I am always happy to talk to people whilst driving (whether in a car or a coach/bus). If I felt as though I particularly needed to concentrate I'd politely say so.

About the only place where I can think the above applies is the descent from Yorkshire into Lancashire on the M62.

 

[BestWestern]

...I have also been given numerous trips on buses that were not in service, including among others a National Express coach (bound for the Depot) and taking advantage of a one-way journey on my University route and staying with the driver out of service back to Uni because I knew it was faster!

That one was also a big no-no where I worked!

 

[90019]

I agree and disagree on this one. to be honest you have to be a blithering idiot to not notice a bus or just blatantly walk out in front of it.

I have people walk in front of my bus every day - it's quite unusual to go a day without it happening at least once. Yesterday, I had someone actually walk into the side of my bus while I was stationary at a junction.
I was going to comment that it's amazing no one has been hit by a bus in the city centre yet, particularly with the crowds over the past few days, but today someone was.

 

[northwichcat]

Bus driver talking to a passenger, pedestrian walks out in front of bus, pedestrian gets hit.
When interviewed by police the pedestrian says that "the bus didnt stop because driver was distracted by talking to a pssenger", who is at fault, pedestrian for walking out in front of bus or bus driver because they were "distracted"?

If it happened when the bus was pulling out of a bus stop this would be what the Daily Mail's response would be like:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...illed-mother-daughter-escapes-1-000-fine.html
(In that case there's no evidence that the driver was distracted but he didn't see the two pedestrians.)

 

[MCW]

I have people walk in front of my bus every day - it's quite unusual to go a day without it happening at least once. Yesterday, I had someone actually walk into the side of my bus while I was stationary at a junction.
I was going to comment that it's amazing no one has been hit by a bus in the city centre yet, particularly with the crowds over the past few days, but today someone was.

sad to hear about that poor guy!

but yeah we get it all the time down here, bloody stupid, I have to admit, surely most people have heard of the Green Cross Code?

 

[BestWestern]

I agree and disagree on this one. To be honest you have to be a blithering idiot to not notice a bus or just blatantly walk out in front of it.

As much as I agree that talking to a bus driver is a distraction and also a somewhat safety hazard, isn't it the same for talking to your mate who is driving who then has an accident?

As much as that comment is the truth, it is also far too broad and can apply to anyone driving any vehicle.

As others have said, people walk in front of buses all the time. Yes, they are idiots, but such is the nature of some people. Some genuinely don't notice the enormous vehicle approaching them, others just ignorantly think that because they are in an area such as a town centre or similar, they have some kind of right to step out into the road regardless of any traffic that might be inconsiderate enough to be using the highway. You are quite right of course that the issue of distraction can apply to anybody, but a professional driver is expected to be better than your average motorist, and as such will likely be punished more harshly if they mess it up. A bus driver is also in charge of a much bigger vehicle, which requires substantially greater skill and concentration to drive safely, particularly in areas where there are lots of meandering pedestrians who often seemingly have no roadsense, as you often will be on city routes.

You may notice that some companies (including at least one major group) instruct their drivers to run with their headlamps lit at all times. This is for the benefit of the idiots mentioned above, for whom the sheer size of a bus, coupled with the noise it makes and the increasingly common huge brightly lit LED display across the front, are not enough to stop them walking straight out in front of one. Bearing in mind how much fuel costs nowadays, the fact that this is deemed necessary gives some indication of how seriously the issue is taken.

Sometimes when people have been hit, they want to get rid of the buses (I have every sympathy with his injuries, but suspect people may want to be able to get to Oxford Street by bus - they had reduced the number of buses going along Oxford Street).

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/tran...ford-street-to-be-pedestrianised-8167137.html

I notice the article doesn't state who was at fault for this particular incident. Can't help but think that it would have been mentioned if it was the bus driver. Again, this comes down to common sense, or lack of. Oxford Street has a roadway, a pavement and plenty of pedestrian crossings. The buses don't tend to use the pavement, and they'll usually stop for people to cross when the crossings tell them to, so you have to wonder what's going wrong when all these pedestrians are being run over? This quote might help answer that:

"Martin Low of Westminster council said it was continuing to “improve conditions for pedestrians with wider footways and less cluttered walkways".

Perhaps the narrow and cluttered walkways are actually the issue, presumably encouraging pedestrians to step out into the road, rather than it being the fault of all those dastardly buses.

 

[185]

A silent bus? Wouldn't have worked when I was on National Express.... how else could I have asked the stewardess to go drop the toilet into the path of the convertible BMW behind who'd just cut me up on the M6?

 

[plymothian]

Had an incident the other day when I was talking to a friend (initiated by me) when an angry passenger started ringing the bell and yelling at me that I'd missed his stop [never mind he alleged 'I rang the bell 10 minutes ago' - when we would have still been at the terminus]. Now in my mind I only heard the bell as we were passing the stop he allegedly wanted so I was carrying on to the next one, but I don't know for certain that he hadn't pressed it in time.

 

[Ivo]

I had one like that a few weeks ago when someone decided to press the bell just as we turned off a roundabout (at 40mph), with the stop on the immediate left after the roundabout. Cue the driver having to stop suddenly (after the stop) when I told him someone wanted the stop, and a near-tirade from the passenger - on a 70mph dual carriageway. The passenger had long enough to alert the driver, equivalent to roughly 1,200 metres, so why leave it that late?

In this instance, talking to the drivers is a good thing, especially considering the next stop isn't for a similar distance.

 

[BestWestern]

Late bell ringing was always a bugbear, along with constant bell pressing when transporting schoolkids. I had a good one once; we had some sort of permanent roadworks meaning that a bridge on a busy road was down to one direction at a time, traffic light controlled. As we approach the bridge, the bell goes. Old bus, light on the dash long knackered, and about a five minute wait at the lights. I pull away, go over the bridge and completely forget about the bell. My bad, only human after all. Lady punter comes charging up the front as if going into battle, and says "I did ring the bell but obviously you weren't paying any attention..." - I was doing nothing to give her that view, not chatting or distracted in any way, just slipped my mind having sat watching the traffic for a good few minutes and having no reminder on the dash. I pulled in a few metres further down the road, no big deal, and said "Never mind love, the walk will do you good!". The look on her face was that of someone who had just been nicely taken down a wee peg or two, and I was rather surprised a week later that no complaint had materialised! I cannot abide rude people!

 

[34D]

I had one like that a few weeks ago when someone decided to press the bell just as we turned off a roundabout (at 40mph), with the stop on the immediate left after the roundabout. Cue the driver having to stop suddenly (after the stop) when I told him someone wanted the stop, and a near-tirade from the passenger - on a 70mph dual carriageway. The passenger had long enough to alert the driver, equivalent to roughly 1,200 metres, so why leave it that late?

In this instance, talking to the drivers is a good thing, especially considering the next stop isn't for a similar distance.

I have something like this on a Hail and ride route. When they ring the bell, I always ask where they want to be. The sensible ones say by the red car or whatever. The ones who say 'here' (which is a lot of female ENCTS passengers) see me doing a very gentle brake application, and stopping by a kerb in a place that I think is safe.

 

[455driver]

Had an incident the other day when I was talking to a friend (initiated by me) when an angry passenger started ringing the bell and yelling at me that I'd missed his stop [never mind he alleged 'I rang the bell 10 minutes ago' - when we would have still been at the terminus]. Now in my mind I only heard the bell as we were passing the stop he allegedly wanted so I was carrying on to the next one, but I don't know for certain that he hadn't pressed it in time.

He would have pressed the bell just as you passed the bus stop, by the time you have stopped you would be 20 yards closer to his house because he lives that side of the stop and it would have saved him that 20 yard walk.

If I had a penny for every time they tried that one when I was on the buses I would have retired in Monte Carlo years ago, I ALWAYS took them to the next stop or if they started mouthin off and nobody wanted the next stop it was the one after that!

 

[Hyphen]

Late bell ringing was always a bugbear, along with constant bell pressing when transporting schoolkids.

When I was working in Sheffield (not long moved away) this annoyed me, even as a passenger! Worked on the 51 route a bit past the big school, so had to put up with the little... every day.

Some days the kids got so bad I was actually offering the morning drivers my bag of crisps I'd just bought as a sort of 'well done'!

Was nice when they started to put the deckers on though. I actually got a seat!

Still, in terms of chatting to drivers, I was never happy to chat unless they were, and even then I wouldn't leave it long. Had a regular evening guy on the 51 (who I believe is now on the 120 post shake-up) who, on quiet days, would invite me to have a chat. Usually turned into a work rant for both of us!! Had a few regular drivers over the cities I've lived in over the years, and again wouldn't chat unless invited.

Was scary the day I witnessed 51 driver have an accident. Bloke on the pavement at Broomhill stopped to tie his laces and bent down into the road. Honk honk, full brake, honk honk again, crunch. I think it shook ME up more than the driver Next day he received a box of Heroes though!!

 

[90019]

When I was working in Sheffield (not long moved away) this annoyed me, even as a passenger! Worked on the 51 route a bit past the big school, so had to put up with the little... every day.

"Little darlings".

In general, whe people ring the bell too late, I just carry on to the next stop, as I'm not prepared to risk injuring the other passengers by braking hard to stop in time.

 

[BestWestern]

We had some ex-London Darts, most of which were sheds that still had TfL/LT notices plastered all over the inside. Most of them were completely out of place, such as those warning that you'd be stung for 80 quid or whatever if you didn't have a ticket etc, but the one useful sign was over the doors, on the inside, and said "Drivers have been instructed not to open the doors other than at bus stops". Was nice to be able to point to this when somebody wanted you to let them out at the lights into several lanes of traffic; the rather sharp tone of it implied that you weren't just being a miserable sod but actually really had been told not to do it!

 

[exile]

I have no idea why the OP is so upset. The driver was applying the rules correctly. Driving a bus (or any other vehicle) requires concentration and the fact so many drivers try to multi-task - make mobile phone calls (or even send texts, which I've seen a couple of drivers (not bus drivers!) do), reorganise their CD collection, read maps, drink coffee or whatever whilst doing 70 on the motorway, is no reason to assume that doing so is a good idea.

 

[Tomonthetrain]

I hate some of the little dears constantly ringing the bell when its school kicking out time. And that's as a passenger

 

[MCW]

I hate some of the little dears constantly ringing the bell when its school kicking out time. And that's as a passenger

funny you should say that, cause I know some drivers get driven crazy by the kids, but my mate owns a little company and does regular school runs now and he says they are not a problem... weird.

 

[RJ]

Late bell ringing was always a bugbear, along with constant bell pressing when transporting schoolkids.

I have a solution for that. I calmly explain over the PA that constant ringing of the bell signifies a serious developing electrical fault with the bus, which would require it to be taken out of service immediately. 10 times out of 10, it stops after that.

 

[Wikipedia]

I think the horn may be getting a fair bit of use.

Mind you, if they have the same horns as the rest of the Volvos we've got, that's no bad thing.

Fit a pair of mainline horns to the roof! That should get their attention! Just got to find a valve and pipework for it!!