Idiot bus drivers

i don't mind bus drivers so much

it's fucking cabbies that really piss me off

+438

I don't mind bus drivers so much

it's fucking sheep that really piss me off

I'm with you on that one.

Good, I'm glad someone is. All over the road they are. Blood people with freedom of the city don't know how to control their sheep, all over the road.

I say this as man who has won best lamb in Oxfordshire 1995 (I think it was 1995, might have been 1994).

riding in london would be no fun with out buses!

Riding due East at around 8pm with the top of the shadow of the bus following about 20' in front of you is somewhat unnerving.

+438

+439

bus driver very considerately let me out.... bless him

whereas on same ride a cab driver overtook me and immediately swerved left into me when he worked out there was an oncoming car. Managed to knock his wing mirror off and let him know where I thought he was at...he said he was phoning the Police and tried to drive after me....

So many bus threads to choose from but this title sums up today's encounter.

Heading towards Greenwich one way system along the bus lane outside the Maritime Museum doing a reasonable speed (high teens) some twat of a bus driver overtakes me and starts indicating to stop at the bus stop before he's even past me. He was probably 100 yards from the stop when he started to overtake me.
I guessed what was likely to happen as he started to come past me as I'm familiar with the location of the bus stop so was very prepared to have to take evasive action which probably helped keep the red mist under control so I pulled along beside the cab and tapped on the window. He gave me some shit about it being a bus lane - WTF!
After I finished talking to him he was fully aware of a number of important facts including the likely marital status of his parents, his strong resemblence to a piece of female anatomy and his value as compared to doggie doos.
The one good thing to come out of the incident was the speed at which I went up the hill in Greenwich Park afterwards - adrenelin FTW!

That happens to me all the time. I used to keep my speed and they'd often slow to let me go, but every so often one stubbornly or ignorantly forces you off the road. It's not worth it, I try to slow and go round now.

The other day I was overtaking another cyclist in a bus lane when the lights 50m away went red so i stopped accelerating. A bus driver continued to accelerate unnecessarily till he had to slam on the brakes to avoid me. He slammed on the horn and shouted before having to again slam on the brakes immediately to avoid stationary traffic 10m hence. I gave his a wanker wave while he shouted at me silently through his windshield

@ neu - had similar experiences myself of late (if I read the post right)... there's almost an assumption that bikes are going to RLJ from some other road users.

Royally fecked off a whole host of bus drivers on their way home to Camberwell Bus Garage over the past few years by always stopping at red lights, when they have assumed they could follow me through as it were...

I usually turn round and smile sweetly as they wave their support for my law abiding cycling technique.

is there a way for passengers on a bus to open the door themselves independently of the driver? Nearly hit a guy today who got off bus when it was stopped but no where near a bus stop. i have also hit a lady previously on oxford street from this.

Was the traffic at a standstill? I've found that some bus drivers are ok to let people off when stationary in traffic if they want off.

yeah both times the traffic was at standstill. its still a crazy logic. when it happened on oxford street there no access to the pavement either only a metal barrier, which i rebounded onto.

Don't ride down the inside then ffs

yeah both times the traffic was at standstill. its still a crazy logic. when it happened on oxford street there no access to the pavement either only a metal barrier, which i rebounded onto.

Yeh, riding between a bus and a metal barrier on Oxford St doesn't sound like the brightest idea you have ever had.

is there a way for passengers on a bus to open the door themselves independently of the driver? Nearly hit a guy today who got off bus when it was stopped but no where near a bus stop. i have also hit a lady previously on oxford street from this.

Yes, there is an emergency button under a flap at all doors.

Was the bus in the same lane as you? If so, you shouldn't have been undertaking.

im not talking about a bus lane here, just when it was a single lane road.
so no one has ever cycled to the left of stationary cars? Its the not the best tactic admittedly but getting out of a vehicle in traffic without looking isn't either.

ok I've said this before, but here goes again- I used to ride to work every day for years - be it to Ashford beyond Heathrow, Apsley out beyond Watford or Clerkenwell, all from Harrow, and I have the scars to prove it, broken leg, chipped teeth, broken and surgically mended shoulder.

In my time I've many an altercation with busses (as well as cars but I want to concentrate on the buses here) and do know exactly what peeps suffer.

Yes by all means stop and say what you think without losing the temper ideally, and I DO know at times I could have killed.... however, the neat trick is to write down/photograph the offending vehicle, its reg no, its bus route no., the time, any witnesses, and finally the bus company name.

Next is to write to the bus Co with what ever evidence you have explaining in simple terms what's been done that's wrong. The bus and driver can be traced very easily. I found every bus Co took the trouble to respond to me, and advise their actions, and they were pretty stern about them, they'd taken with the driver ie their card is marked- both bus Co and driver.

The driver holds a Public License and if he/she loses that then its no earnings, card marked for being sacked, and more difficult to get another job- simples.

I've had similar success with liveried lorries/vans on the roads and motorways too (I don't make a habit of it!) and have found it very effective- although at the time it was a phone call to the Co concerned about thier idiot driver. Driving at the same time as phoning is now a no-no.

IIMHO the taking of details and the writing is well worth the effort.

I'd just love to have been a fly on the wall when the case was mentioned to the drivers concerned.

@ BIles; No, we probably all have done it. But if it's the second time you have had this kind of incident maybe....

so no one has ever cycled to the left of stationary cars? Its the not the best tactic admittedly but getting out of a vehicle in traffic without looking isn't either.

Yes, and I've been twatted by a non-indicating left-turner.

I still undertake stationary cars, but slowly and carefully.

I wouldn't undertake a stationary bus because there's a much higher likelihood of someone getting off it. As you have found out...

ok I've said this before, but here goes again- I used to ride to work every day for years - be it to Ashford beyond Heathrow, Apsley out beyond Watford or Clerkenwell, all from Harrow, and I have the scars to prove it, broken leg, chipped teeth, broken and surgically mended shoulder.

In my time I've many an altercation with busses (as well as cars but I want to concentrate on the buses here) and do know exactly what peeps suffer.

Yes by all means stop and say what you think without losing the temper ideally, and I DO know at times I could have killed.... however, the neat trick is to write down/photograph the offending vehicle, its reg no, its bus route no., the time, any witnesses, and finally the bus company name.

Next is to write to the bus Co with what ever evidence you have explaining in simple terms what's been done that's wrong. The bus and driver can be traced very easily. I found every bus Co took the trouble to respond to me, and advise their actions, and they were pretty stern about them, they'd taken with the driver ie their card is marked- both bus Co and driver.

The driver holds a Public License and if he/she loses that then its no earnings, card marked for being sacked, and more difficult to get another job- simples.

I've had similar success with liveried lorries/vans on the roads and motorways too (I don't make a habit of it!) and have found it very effective- although at the time it was a phone call to the Co concerned about thier idiot driver. Driving at the same time as phoning is now a no-no.

IIMHO the taking of details and the writing is well worth the effort.

I'd just love to have been a fly on the wall when the case was mentioned to the drivers concerned.

Shortage of bus drivers means that not an issue

so no one has ever cycled to the left of stationary cars?.

It's not advised to cycle on the inside of stationary traffic, higher risk of collision with peds/motorist/cyclists.

/passenger car doors opening

The scariest buses are the off-duty ones with all the lights off at night. Like a thundering ghost train.

Saw a bendy bus (453 I think) full of passengers and jumping a busy red light at the New Cross Rd/Old Kent Rd/Pepys/Queens rd junction. It narrowly avoided another bus and all the other oncoming traffic and cut across the whole road just to quickly slam on the breaks at the bus stop opposite.

Fucking ridiculous.