Since the buses seemed to have had a fair few run ins with the cyclists in London of late are the bus drivers & companies being targeted for extra training and fitment of extra warnings and devices that we are getting thrust upon us?
Buses have much smaller mirrors than trucks and a bus driver has all his passengers to potentially distract him / her. Surely if we are getting all this stuff forced on us they should have to suffer it too.
Oh I wouldn’t worry, a TfL bus has to jump through more hoops than us that’s for sure.
On a service bus you will be amazed at how many people will witness an event from behind their newspaper.
Stan
8wheels:
Buses have much smaller mirrors than trucks …
My thoughts too. Sat next to a bus this afternoon on my way home, for a double decker, he has 2 mirrors, both about the size of an A5 piece of paper, whereas I’ve got 6? Don’t hear of buses having audible indicators and bubble wrapped corners or whatever they’re insisting on tippers in London these days?
Personally I think the side rails on tippers and the like are a good thing, can’t really see why you shouldn’t have them on all of them. Certain things like that could be made to be compulsory on new vehicles, reversing cameras on rigid vehicles would be another.
I don’t have one and manage OK without but there are places where you need to blindly reverse out of somewhere with no one to assist or trun somewhere awkward and can’t really see behind you.
I heard andrew gilligan the mayors cycling guru on the wireless today saying the mayor is considering banning hgvs in the rush hour. Prehaps he should ban buses too.
kr79:
I heard andrew gilligan the mayors cycling guru on the wireless today saying the mayor is considering banning hgvs in the rush hour. Prehaps he should ban buses too.
Is there a rush hour? Many years ago I’d say there were two discernible rush hours but nowadays it seems to be pretty much nose to tail all day.
Pretty much is that in most parts.
Even at 0300 people are cycling in London ( a lot ■■■■ faced tbh 
)
No good time for a ban IMHO.
Bus drivers are a law to themselves…
I’m a london bus driver.
We sit alot lower than hgv drivers and our visibilty to the nearside is good.
Part of my CPC was riding a boris bike around the yard and seeing what it was like to be a cyclist.
TBH, I see some terrible driving by bus drivers, and I can’t understand why, we have cctv on us all the time, and if we are involved in a ‘at fault’ accident we recieve a written warning at the very least.
2 warnings and your gone.
Also, it’s very very rare for a cyclist to end up under a bus, because we are low to the ground.
rambo19:
I’m a london bus driver.
We sit alot lower than hgv drivers and our visibilty to the nearside is good.
Part of my CPC was riding a boris bike around the yard and seeing what it was like to be a cyclist.
TBH, I see some terrible driving by bus drivers, and I can’t understand why, we have cctv on us all the time, and if we are involved in a ‘at fault’ accident we recieve a written warning at the very least.
2 warnings and your gone.
Also, it’s very very rare for a cyclist to end up under a bus, because we are low to the ground.
You’re right about the driving standards of bus drivers.They can be identified as mainly not having a clue when it comes to judging the width of the things and therefore not being able to keep inside the dividing line on their own side of the road or drive between tight obstructions accurately and safely,total lack of speed awareness when approaching hazards like stale green traffic lights and pedestrian crossings and obstructions like parked vehicles,and like many truck drivers lack of use of mirrors.
The reason why is obvious,just as in the case of bad truck drivers,it’s bad driver training in which the driving standards in question obviously reflect the standards of those who train them and then test them or those drivers would be washed out at the early training and testing stage or at least during their ongoing driver assessment stages.
However the cyclist issue is mainly one of the even worse road sense and non existent self preservation instincts of most cyclists.
I have been a inspector on buses for years
I see bad drivers on all company’s
Some who bring in cheap drivers from other parts of the eu
I know one company taking on 50 at a time from Poland
Go ahead
A police car stopped a bus going the wrong way down one way street at night
After a crash and buses had told to divert
Driver got lost
He was jumping red lights also as he was late on his time card lol
Police got the driver to follow them back garage
abellio also have drivers and have now got controllers and staff staff managers
Just to deal with them
One got done for drink driving and before he went to court did a runner back home
And was back with a new ID card and name
Why do they use them staff cheap but the staff turn over is massive
Lots will work for a year or just under then leave once they have cash
Carryfast:
rambo19:
I’m a london bus driver.
We sit alot lower than hgv drivers and our visibilty to the nearside is good.
Part of my CPC was riding a boris bike around the yard and seeing what it was like to be a cyclist.
TBH, I see some terrible driving by bus drivers, and I can’t understand why, we have cctv on us all the time, and if we are involved in a ‘at fault’ accident we recieve a written warning at the very least.
2 warnings and your gone.
Also, it’s very very rare for a cyclist to end up under a bus, because we are low to the ground.You’re right about the driving standards of bus drivers.They can be identified as mainly not having a clue when it comes to judging the width of the things and therefore not being able to keep inside the dividing line on their own side of the road or drive between tight obstructions accurately and safely,total lack of speed awareness when approaching hazards like stale green traffic lights and pedestrian crossings and obstructions like parked vehicles,and like many truck drivers lack of use of mirrors.
The reason why is obvious,just as in the case of bad truck drivers,it’s bad driver training in which the driving standards in question obviously reflect the standards of those who train them and then test them or those drivers would be washed out at the early training and testing stage or at least during their ongoing driver assessment stages.
However the cyclist issue is mainly one of the even worse road sense and non existent self preservation instincts of most cyclists.
I take ‘mainly not having a clue’ as tarring them all with the same brush. This happens because a moron sees a bus/taxi/lorry driver doing the wrong thing, after which, they’re all bad in his eyes. Is that what you’re getting at ?
8wheels:
Personally I think the side rails on tippers and the like are a good thing, can’t really see why you shouldn’t have them on all of them. Certain things like that could be made to be compulsory on new vehicles, reversing cameras on rigid vehicles would be another.I don’t have one and manage OK without but there are places where you need to blindly reverse out of somewhere with no one to assist or trun somewhere awkward and can’t really see behind you.
I dont think any of the fatalities would have been prevented by having reversing cameras fitted. The main advantages a bus has over a HGV is the driver is lower and the whole nearside of the vehicle is glass.
HGV manufacturers stopped putting glass in the lower section of the passenger door so we can have windows which wind down into the cavity instead of sliding horizontally. Reintroducing these might help stop some of these blind spot accidents.
As buses stop frequently and travel at a slower average speed due to either accelerating or braking between stops, some cyclists are more prepared to hang back knowing they will get past quickky without having to take risks.
The last and probably main difference is that buses are predictable. We all know what they are doing and why they are on the roads. This makes their actions so much easier to anticipate and plan for.
peterm:
Carryfast:
rambo19:
I’m a london bus driver.
We sit alot lower than hgv drivers and our visibilty to the nearside is good.
Part of my CPC was riding a boris bike around the yard and seeing what it was like to be a cyclist.
TBH, I see some terrible driving by bus drivers, and I can’t understand why, we have cctv on us all the time, and if we are involved in a ‘at fault’ accident we recieve a written warning at the very least.
2 warnings and your gone.
Also, it’s very very rare for a cyclist to end up under a bus, because we are low to the ground.You’re right about the driving standards of bus drivers.They can be identified as mainly not having a clue when it comes to judging the width of the things and therefore not being able to keep inside the dividing line on their own side of the road or drive between tight obstructions accurately and safely,total lack of speed awareness when approaching hazards like stale green traffic lights and pedestrian crossings and obstructions like parked vehicles,and like many truck drivers lack of use of mirrors.
The reason why is obvious,just as in the case of bad truck drivers,it’s bad driver training in which the driving standards in question obviously reflect the standards of those who train them and then test them or those drivers would be washed out at the early training and testing stage or at least during their ongoing driver assessment stages.
However the cyclist issue is mainly one of the even worse road sense and non existent self preservation instincts of most cyclists.
I take ‘mainly not having a clue’ as tarring them all with the same brush. This happens because a moron sees a bus/taxi/lorry driver doing the wrong thing, after which, they’re all bad in his eyes. Is that what you’re getting at ?
It’s got nothing to do with truck drivers or cab drivers.The issue there is the ‘general’ standards of bus drivers.In which it’s obvious that the ‘majority’ share those traits concerning the issues as described probably for the reasons as described.IE it’s not just one bus that you’ll find coming at you during the course of a journey involving bus routes with a good part of the vehicle across the central dividing line when there’s more than enough room to keep the thing on the correct side of the road.As for the other issues as described that’s also absolutely true.The issue of bad bus driver’s’ was also confirmed by a ‘bus driver’ if you’d have read the posts. 
However in the case of cyclists colliding with buses or any other type of motor vehicle the issue has more to do with the attitudes and antics on the road of the majority of cyclists not drivers.
buses are predictable. We all know what they are doing and why they are on the roads.
clearly not everyone in these cases, plus there are non service buses / coaches to add to the mix.
I’ll accept reversing cameras would probably not have saved any cyclists, but I still think they should be a standard fit as there are undoubtedly lots of instances where they could prevent some accident / incident or other.
I read the post. I drove buses too and I drove rigids and artics. I’ve seen some awful driving from all sections, but a few bad drivers doesn’t mean they’re all bad. How about I reckon you must be a crap driver because you used to drive a lorry. And I don’t get why you feel the need to put the smilies all over the place. Little ■■■■ syndrome is it.
peterm:
I read the post. I drove buses too and I drove rigids and artics. I’ve seen some awful driving from all sections, but a few bad drivers doesn’t mean they’re all bad. How about I reckon you must be a crap driver because you used to drive a lorry. And I don’t get why you feel the need to put the smilies all over the place. Little ■■■■ syndrome is it.
Let’s just say that it’s a lot more likely that it’ll be a bus that’s approaching from the opposite direction across the white lines or that fails to give way when there’s parked vehicles in it’s way,than a truck.As for the smileys who gives a zb but if you’re that bothered I suggest you ask the mods to take down every smiley posted by everyone on here.
When the red buses were owned and operated by London Transport they had relatively stable workforces and experienced drivers.It was a job for life: wages maybe not brilliant but a very good pension etc meant that it was a job worth sticking at.
After privatisation driver staff turnover on the ex-LT companies was standing at 120 per cent per year. Competitive tendering driving down wages, and when one company lost a route the drivers would take generous redundancy rather than be re-engaed by the new company.
There were a number of bus drivers interviewed about cyclists on the BBC radio yesterday I think it was.
They all sounded young, female and foreign… which doesn’t mean they are bad drivers but might mean that they do not know London or their routes particularly well, and may feel vulnerable regarding their passengers and other road users.