Courteous bus driver.

t4tomo

We all witness and love to highlight shocking driving by London's bus drivers. I had the opposite this morning.

I was filtering past 3 buses setting down passengers and just as i was along side the 3rd he started off again at a point where the bus lane passes some lights with an island between the bus lane and teh other 2 lanes.

Fair play to the chap he saw me along side him, slowed up and waved me through in front of him.

pw1brown

Thanks for reporting something positive - it gives us hope! I reckon there are good and bad road users of all modes of transport.

dondare

I have almost no problems with bus drivers most of the time, beyond the fact that their vehicles are large and smelly.
Remember that bus lanes are primarily bus lanes and not cycle lanes, also that bus drivers have a schedule to keep.

pedalpower

I agree. Bus drivers seem to me about the best drivers around. Unfortunately they are very smelly (not the drivers - well, as far as i know...) so conflicts arise with cyclists understandably not wanting to sit behind them.
Doesn't the highway code now suggest that we should all give way to buses when they're pulling out? Presumably that includes us cyclists?
I also think its a popular misconception that the bendy buses are dangerous. Because they are articulated in the middle they are actually less likely to cut you up around bends.
Its taxis i hate - full of rich, lazy persons and often bigoted drivers, pulling up at short notice on yellow lines, doing U-turns etc. And they smell bad too.
By the way, why are the fuel cell buses taking such a long time to be introduced?

t4tomo

COnversely I find most taxi drivers fine - they are used to driving around London & hence used to bikes.

Bendy buses are just too long. The biggest problem is them blocking junctions wehn they have got the cab end through but the back end is still in another street.

The routemasters and standard double deckers take just as many passengers for less road space. I fail to see why a disabled friendly bus has to be designed so blimmin long.

dondare

IMO, bendy buses are certainly more dangerous than standard-length ones, perhaps on a par with the largest articulated lorries. The back wheels cut across corners and even endanger pedestrians on the footpath; a careless or foolhardy cyclist attempting to filter past one would have very little chance if it turned at that time.

Gussio

Agree that most bus drivers in the Smoke are good eggs. They are better than most at using their nearside mirrors. I do take umbrage with those "busies" who work hard to overtake cyclists to then haul up at a bus stop a matter of yards later. Forces the bike to slow down, overtake the bus and unneccessarily push into the flow of other traffic trying to pass.

tardington

I generally have a nice time with bus drivers. In return, I don't try and shoot up the left of them, unless I *know* I've got ages on a light. I also generally am good about letting them out (Princes Street in edinburgh is bus + cycle only during the day)

Except, the driver who does the 11 at 10.16pm through Morningside- he has almost killed me 3 times now :evil:

pedalpower

dondare wrote:

IMO, bendy buses are certainly more dangerous than standard-length ones, perhaps on a par with the largest articulated lorries. The back wheels cut across corners and even endanger pedestrians on the footpath; a careless or foolhardy cyclist attempting to filter past one would have very little chance if it turned at that time.

but the trailer of articulated lorries is much longer. I would think each section of the bendy buses is shorter than that of a traditional double decker and therefore they're less likely to cut across corners than double deckers.
I agree its unfortunate the road space they take up though.
I also agree that taxi drivers generally are good (apart from one who rammed me gently when i was waiting to turn right on a box junction) but I just hate how many there are.

t4tomo

I had another courteous bus driver again this morning. Maybe they have been training the drivers on that route. This maybe linked to me reporting one to TFL a couple of months back for streaking across two lanes forcing me to swerve and brake and then crashing 2 red lights.

mrchrispy

buses are great, the tend to know what mirrors are actually for!!
beside - given the chance i always let them out in front as then you can draft them untill the have to stop again

Drfabulous0

mrchrispy wrote:

given the chance i always let them out in front as then you can draft them untill the have to stop again

Me too, that's why I love buses

Plax

I actually had a nice bus driver yesterday too. It was my right of way as there was parked cars on his side, but usually cars just keep on coming at you regardless. So I was appreciative of the bus driver stopping for me (mind you, I was flying down the road so if he had carried on coming I'd have probably splatted on the front of his bus like a fly )