From the latest edition of the Highway Code.
223
Buses, coaches and trams. Give priority to these vehicles when you can do so safely, especially when they signal to pull away from stops. Look out for people getting off a bus or tram and crossing the road.
This replaces the some what wishy washy, "Please let the bus out if safe to do so." That was a request, not an instruction which you, and the hundred drivers behind you could totally ignore without a care in the world. Now it is an instruction, it says, Give priority if safe. So if you are a 100 metres back from the bus waiting to pull away from a bus stop, you must give way because it is safe to do so. If a car is travelling at 30 mph (14 metres per second) it will take 7 seconds to travel 100 metres, lift of the accelerator and that time increases to 10 seconds, plenty of time for a bus to pull out and accelerate to 30 mph. For some reason car drivers think they are holding the bus driver up if they don't let the bus out. No they are not, they are holding up the passengers on the bus. Hold them up for long enough and they will all get fed up of how long bus journeys take and go out and buy a car. That would put thousands of more cars on the road and that is just in Torquay alone. The roads would become car parks. Do you want that? No! Well get used to letting us out.
8 comments:
The request might have worked if if it wasn't for the number of your colleagues who destroyed any goodwill towards buses by playing the "right indicator and boot it away from the stop while someone is in the process of passing" game.
Also, your example omits to mention that the bus is probably not going to accelerate to 30, it's going to pull up at the next stop a few hundred yards down the road, where it's increasingly likely that the PC local authority has completely solved your problem by placing a traffic island or "bus boarder" to make it impossible to pass at all.
Well said that man above, Bus drivers and Taxi drivers all think they own the road .
Time and time again i have seen you lot indicate right at a stop and just pull out knowing yours is bigger than theres.
I may start up a blog againts you lot..
To Anon 1, I agree with your indicate and go comment. There are some drivers who use this tactic. Some of them are just bad drivers but some of them it is because years of experiance have taught that no one is going to let them out so they may as well just go. Second point, our local authority wouldn't understand the concept of a bus boarder. I know because I tried to explain it to them once.
To anon 2, let me know the name of your blog and I will set up a link to it.
It's interesting that both the previous (negative) commenters were anonymous.
Here in Queensland, and I think the rest of Australia, the law says that you MUST give way to buses pulling out from a stop if the speed limit is 70kmh or below. It doesn't make the slightest bit of difference though. That's why the drivers always wait for a break in the traffic, or some kind sole that knows the rules, to let them out. I suspect that's the same with you, it's just that those that criticise are unable to see outside of their gotta-get-in-front-of-the-bus point of view.
By the way, I'll be in your neck of the woods in January.
I left comment 2 above and drive around devon i a 27 ft long lorry and know and respect the law very well.
A common place i see bus drivers lack of law is outside clennon valley going to brixham just before the Quaywest turn off.
Why oh why do they only drive in the left hand lane so no other car can pass , the other day one was doing it and a car tried to under take and the bus pulled in knowing the car driver was breaking the law..
Camera at the ready from now on !!!..
OH AND Steve above how did the aussies get on in the world cup mate ???
Sorry about the above it`s should read right hand lane ...
""Why oh why do they only drive in the left hand lane so no ""
Very weird, i seem to agree with all the above comments in some way or another. Courtesy and consideration is always the key to good driving and this instruction in the highway code will never be adhered to by anyone and we all know the police will never enforce it. In London they are taking away all the bus bays at stops so we stop and go in the flow of traffic speeding us up and slowing cars down. As far as bus drivers are concerned i think the sooner my colleagues realise that the timecard is just a guide the better. I'd rather drive sensible and be late than like a nutter and on time but I'm very much in the minority.
I can't resist replying to the anonymous 2 commenter because I agree with you.
I'm actually English, even though I've lived most of my life in Oz. So I'm on your side in that regard. Also regarding driving trucks, I have the equivalent of your HGV licence, so I know where you're coming from there. I also have to be careful what I say about taxi drivers, even though I agree, but my father in law is an ex cabby.
I think Buncha nailed it as far as we're all concerned. The cops here used to hand out certificates if they caught people being courteous. A great idea that didn't stick.
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