New Garda Trafficwatch/Dublin Bus Drivers

Walter Ego

I was behind a Dublin Bus the other day and the driving was so bad I decided I would report it via the new Garda Trafficwatch number, on handsfree of course. The Garda was very polite but said that there was nothing they could do about it and said that I would be better off ringing Dublin Bus direct.

What a load of shyte. What's the point in having a trafficwatch number?

DB drivers act as if they own the road.
All they are short of are CD plates and a "fúck you" bumper sticker on the back.

I know someone will say this driver is one of a small minority and that in general their standards are very high. Admitedly they have a difficult job to to do, but they are trained for it and that is no excuse for not following the rules of the road as the rest of us roadusers must.

tunney

Their standards of driving are not very high generally. I'm so stick of buses not indicating, or if they do acting as if the act of indicating gives a right to pull into other lanes regardless of wheteher or not that lane is presently occupied. My main pet hate HAS to be when they indicate one way and turn the other. They are terribl terrrible drivers, although that being said alot of the non-national drivers seem to be better drivers and more polite as well.

Nuttzz

I dont think I will ever use this service TBH, I drive quite a bit around the country and do see some things that make me shudder, especially on the overtaking front. However we are all prone to an off day, its human nature, and some day I might be the asshole that people are complaining about. Karma and all that you know

BrianD3

I'm so stick of buses not indicating, or if they do acting as if the act of indicating gives a right to pull into other lanes regardless of wheteher or not that lane is presently occupied.

Try driving a bus in heavy traffic and see how you like it. For a bus to change lanes or pull out into traffic, it needs a massive gap. At least 40-50 feet. Considering that most drivers tailgate each other and drive around 5 feet from the vehicle in front the bus has no chance to pull out. The second thing is the bus has poor acceleration compared to a car so it's less easy to exploit a gap if it does occur, as the gap may be moving faster than the bus. Third thing is, people never want to let a bus out because they don't want to get stuck behind some slow bus which will hold them up.

Because of all this, bus drivers are pretty much forced to "ease" their way into traffic when pulling out or changing lanes etc.

If car drivers were a bit more considerate and understanding of the difficulties of driving a large vehicle in traffic, things would run a lot smoother overall.

BrianD3

tunney

Most of my encounters with Dublin Bus are when I am on my bicycle. Bus driver looks left/right sees me, thinks "Only a cyclist" pulls into the lane I'm in and forces me out - either into oncoming traffic or onto the curb. No matter how difficult driving a bus is that does not give bus drivers the right to endanger vuneralbe road users lives.

Genghis

Originally posted by BrianD3
The second thing is the bus has poor acceleration compared to a car so it's less easy to exploit a gap if it does occur, as the gap may be moving faster than the bus.

Interestingly, listening to Newstalk Monday morning, a transport expert was recommending that Dublin Bus look at the acceleration ability of its fleet - he reckons that they are spec'd far too high. He felt that the accident on the quays could not have happened if the acceleration was not as strong. And, having looked at the site of the accident itself, where markings on the road indicate where the buses ended up, if the 'out of service' bus had started from a standing stop, it had to have had some power to mount the pavement, let alone continue along it until it had passed on the inside of the second bus.

Seth Brundle

Regardless of the acceleration ability of the buses, if the bus in question went from a standstill and travelled a reatively short distance, it wouldhave little momentum. This still does not explain how the driver took at least 15 yards, a kerb, a signpost, people and whatever else was in the way before he stopped.

I have found DB drivers to be courteous towards other drivers, most indicate early and correctly and rarely have I reason to fault them. It is usually everyone else on the road that are doing something wrong (except me of course )

Dr. Loon

I find it very interesting that suddenly everyone's airing compaints about various Dublin Bus issues. Is this because of the recent tragedy? I think so.
Why weren't people slating them before?

I reckon bus drivers have a very tough job, and I notice more car users acting stupidly and dangerously on the roads then buses.

sirlinux

Ill get my gripe in while everyone else is, no one seems to enforce speed limits for dublin bus, how often are in you doing 30 in a 30 zone and a bus flies by. I was sad enough to take my GPS on board a bus and it was managing 45MPH in a 30 zone.

ToxicPaddy

I do agree that some bus drivers are just damn rude on the road and do take
unnecessary risks and not just Dublin Bus drivers, but some of the private coach
drivers too, however I do find most are very mannerly and accommodating to other
drivers and pleasant when you do use the bus..

Driving a Bus or HGV in Dublin is one thing that I would not do for love nor money
especially due to the size of what they are driving and how little is required to do
so much damage whether to a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcycle, car or any other
vehicle on the road..

Tox

TomF

Whenever I see a bus in difficulty pulling away from a stop, or trying to thread through a tight spot or turn, I give way because the bus represents the many people on-board, while I'm only one. I think sometimes it may be only one of few bright spots in the driver's day.

shabbyroad

I'm just amazed that Silent Death actually got someone to answer when he 'phoned.

I tried last week when a driver was (get this)
1. in the overtaking lane on the M50
2. not overtaking
3. brushing her hair with one hand
4. holding a cigarette with the other while sorta kinda holding on to the steering wheel in between puffs
5. L-plates on the car

apart from that though she was a perfectly safe driver doing 60-odd MPH

called the trafficwatch number... and it rang and rang and rang....

what a joke

Stephen

Some little fúcker boy racer in his shítty pimped up fiat punto nearly killed me last weekend between kilkenny and carlow (i'm on a bike). I tried to ring the traffic watch number to no avail, so i just went to the garda station when I got to carlow.
Yer man at the desk looked a bit surprised by my rage at being nearly killed.

Our man in Havana

Are they doing anything about it?

Tommy Vercetti

I tried to call last week to report a Garda driving dangerously, just to be a smart bastard since they'd probably have given me a fine/penalty points if I did the same, no answer.

As for bus drivers, vast majority of them are fine in my experience, although I have noticed that they ignore speed limits a lot.