Posted: 4/8/2011 12:53:33 PM EDT
Bus drivers are a strange breed, what's going on in their lives and minds that makes them behave that way? You'd think being entrusted with several tonnes of metal and glass would make them drive with diligence and caution, but no, they plough through the streets in their hulking steel beasts with enough speed to rip a hole in the space time continuum, which is ironic as space and time are things to which they seem totally oblivious. As the old saying goes, you wait ages for a bus then three turn up together - and run you over, but don't panic. Live for today, you may be hit by Brians bus tomorrow. 
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Nothing to do with Brian per se................but a couple of years ago I was sat in traffic during some particularly busy and tiresome roadworks in the centre of Cheltenham when I saw a bus driver lose it big style. He was first at the traffic lights but got cut up by a 4x4 that came out of a side road right by the lights. Straight after that a woman in a brand new Toyota MPV misjudged the lights and got stranded on the box junction directly in front of the bus. Well, that was the last straw, and this guy revved up and just drove straight into the side of the Toyota, pushing it sideways across the box junction. I thought WTF?, stopped and went over to the bus. Other drivers and passers by, including a local Councillor, who had all seen the clearly deliberate act and seemed to want to drag this guy out and hang him there and then. I ended up talking to him purely to stop other people getting to him. He was a knob though and was trying to make feeble excuses for his actions. He was arrested for criminal damage but eventually only charged with motoring offences. He was still so stupid as to go not guilty, even against the advice of his own legal representation. He sacked him and stated he would defend himself, so the Magistrate wheeled in the seven or eight witnesses, including myself, and informed him that there was a pile of evidence against him. He reluctantly changed his plea...........
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Yep, every now and again a bus driver will lose it. I am surprised it does not happen more often actually.
And yep driving standards have gone downhill. But then when they offer peanuts they should not be surprised that they often get a monkey applying for the job. 
Oh and could you tell me which model of bus this was ? Because the ones I am given have a guvernor which restricts them to 45mph and the 0-45 time is painfully slow and I am rather jealous of HMB's local bus drivers and their formula one buses 
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Yeah, them naughty bus drivers, if they had any sense they'd have become truckers .
The dumbest drivers on the road are those who think they are so good, answering or reading anything on your smart phone makes that phone smarter than you, as you let the speed ebb away, drift across the lanes and can travel up to 300-500 meters per sentence as an unguided missile. overtaking a truck and pulling in less than 5m in front of a truck as you need the next exit on the motorway is also stupidity pure, especially when the slipway to said exit is full of traffic, then standing on your brakes to push in to said tailback will cause the trucker to have multiple heart attacks as he has to try to check if it is safe to move over into the next lane or bring his heavily laden truck to a stop or down to your newly adjusted speed in the same distance, but everyone knows that any accident involving a truck is the truckers fault as he didn't keep his distance and wasn't paying attention..... Due to the spy in the cab, we have to adhere to the drive times which means that we have enforced breaks which here in Germany means we are forced onto the service areas where the Autobahn Polizei, Customs & Excise or the BAG eagerly await you, they will then inspect your truck, the load, and your good self, all in the guise of maintaining the high standards of transport safety, and if something is amiss they will then render you advice on how to correct your minor infringements of the laws and charge you in the form of fines. End of rant .
As to bus drivers, yeah they suck , who else would want to drive a vehicle full of people who are either to dumb to own a car of their own or to lazy to walk, and if you get it wrong and have an accident your responsible, and all of those passengers families will require that their loss be avenged. Become a banker Brian, as if you make a mistake, the Government will fall over itself to bail you out as they can't afford to let the currency devalue in any way as it may cause an uprising of the sheeple .
Tony |
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Some would already say I am a banker
As to spy in the cab - we too have that now - and cameras front, rear, both sides and all over the inside - about 16 on average depending on model of bus. Already saved me twice. Eastern europeans wrote in with lots of witnesses to accuse me of wandering out of lane and sideswiping him. Whiplash and lots of other injuries. Big claim. However the camera showed the car had no passengers and it was even detailed enough to show him texting as he drifted into ME !!! I can take the abusive passengers. I can penny pinching by my employer when it comes to pay and conditions. I can take the poorly maintained ( again profit ) buses. The only thing I find that gets on my nerves is the obsessive compulsion that so many car drivers have - that "must get past the bus" mentality. Sure, if I was a car driver and a great lumbering slow vehicle wanted to pull out causing me to get stuck behind it for the next 20 miles, I would not let him out but squeeze past. But, the bus is going to pull back in in a few hundred yards ! Just wait til then and sail past. But no - at every oher bus stop, every hour of the day, every day of the week, I watch car drivers floor the pedal and take suicidal risks just to get past the bus. And then slam on the anchors 10 yards later. Their forward vision ends at the end of their bonnet. They dont think of the schoolboy crossing in front of the bus. Or the traffic island ahead etc Then there are the people in white vans or 4x4's. I watch them being bullies. They use their size to bully other drivers of smaller vehicles out of the way. And they drive past smiling. The biggest vehicle with the most assertive driver gets right of way, in their mind. Then the same driver gets sand in their bits when an even bigger vehicle such as a truck or bus gets the better of them
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That's where Germany introduced laws that you are not allowed to pass a bus at a stop with a speed of over 30kmh, still gets ignored by most drivers though .
It's a job, and it pays the bills, and taxes so that our beloved leader can go on squandering sprees in the whole world  .
Tony |
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Quoted:
That's where Germany introduced laws that you are not allowed to pass a bus at a stop with a speed of over 30kmh, still gets ignored by most drivers though .
It's a job, and it pays the bills, and taxes so that our beloved leader can go on squandering sprees in the whole world .
Tony Highway code asks drivers to afford right of way to buses here too but also ignored ! Indeed it is a job and it does pay the bills. It will do til something better comes along. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
That's where Germany introduced laws that you are not allowed to pass a bus at a stop with a speed of over 30kmh, still gets ignored by most drivers though .
It's a job, and it pays the bills, and taxes so that our beloved leader can go on squandering sprees in the whole world .
Tony Highway code asks drivers to afford right of way to buses here too but also ignored ! Indeed it is a job and it does pay the bills. It will do til something better comes along. Unfortunately the highway code is an advisory pamphlet and not law. It contains some references to laws but not everything in it is law. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
That's where Germany introduced laws that you are not allowed to pass a bus at a stop with a speed of over 30kmh, still gets ignored by most drivers though .
It's a job, and it pays the bills, and taxes so that our beloved leader can go on squandering sprees in the whole world .
Tony Highway code asks drivers to afford right of way to buses here too but also ignored ! Indeed it is a job and it does pay the bills. It will do til something better comes along. Unfortunately the highway code is an advisory pamphlet and not law. It contains some references to laws but not everything in it is law. True. Maybe the driver/s so aggrieved about the bus in front "getting in their way" might be happier if that bus was not there. Instead, he could have 20- 80 cars carrying the passengers from it, in his way instead. Or maybe the OP who seems to have been cut up / been the victim of unseemly driving by a bus driver should have a long hard look at his own driving. Is he so perfect he has never cut another motorist up ? Just a thought...................
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