Busphobia!

[Penderic]

Well, I have a fear of what a bus might do, in stop and go traffic.

And I worry about the choking cloud of exhaust haze drifting my way. Cough cough!

And when I see a school bus - I give it a very large buffer zone.

Years ago, some kids in a chartered bus threw a bunch of paper garbage out the rear side windows and almost hit me. Screaming and rude behavior! Lil buggers. It was some public school sports team I think.

So when I saw this pic, I thought this might be a good thread for those of you with your own strange bus encounters.


The Window Weirdo!



You looking at me?

[webmost]

School bus drivers are the retardedest cagers on my daily commute. They'll pull out into anything, cause they're convinced that so long as their cab fits, then the rest of the bus is in the clear. But the dumbest one was a bus driver at a stop sign who looked right at me in his barn door mirror, threw it in reverse, and attempted to feed me bumper. When I pulled up beside his window, he looked at me like "where the hell'd you come from?"

[rodekyll]

I got mooned by a bus load of cheerleaders once.  You can make up your own punch line.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  And your'e complaining?

[oldbike54]

 Got flashed by a group of cheerleaders , unfortunately the ex was pillion , kind of limited my reaction 

 Dusty

[travelingbyguzzi]

We pay our schools drivers minimum wage. What did you expect?

[Penderic]

Those big shiny fancy buses with the blacked-out windows, that pull up beside me, sometimes make me wonder what strange people may be in there. A famous musician? Rich dude? Tourists? Empty?

[Triple Jim]

Years ago, some kids in a chartered bus threw a bunch of paper garbage out the rear side windows and almost hit me.

I had that happen not that long ago while I was riding my bicycle.  As the bus passed, the driver blew his horn, and a kid threw trash out the window at me.  I was near the end of my ride, so I jumped in my van and went up the road after the bus.  I caught it, pulled up next to it at a stop sign, got out, and explained that I could hear his bus a quarter of a mile back, and that blowing his horn did nothing but scare me, and that a less experienced rider may have panicked and wobbled into his path.  I also told him that the next time someone on his bus threw trash at me, I would report him.  He was young and apparently wanted to keep his job, and said "Please don't do that!"  Just then a kid on the bus exclaimed "Charles did it!"  I tried not to chuckle as I walked back to the van.

[oldbike54]

 Before we start trashing school bus drivers , try driving a bus loaded with 50 little screaming Jennies and Johnnies and navigating traffic that refuses to recognize that maybe a giant yellow vehicle carrying mommy and daddy's precious little cargo should be given some room to maneuver .

 Dusty

[Penderic]

Well, the driving training for them SchoolBus drivers should include learning to deal with modern conditions.



 

[rodekyll]

  And your'e complaining?

Iat was a boy's school.

I warned you that your punch line would be better.

[Sheepdog]

I had an old friend named Larry in New Orleans that got past his PTSD after Viet Nam by building a gorgeous Panhead chopper. It was even featured in "Choppers" magazine way back in the early seventies. When the copy writer for the magazine asked him if it was fast, Larry gave a perfect New Orleans answer,

"It's faster than a city bus..."

[Mark Harpell]

School bus drivers are the retardedest cagers on my daily commute. They'll pull out into anything, cause they're convinced that so long as their cab fits, then the rest of the bus is in the clear. But the dumbest one was a bus driver at a stop sign who looked right at me in his barn door mirror, threw it in reverse, and attempted to feed me bumper. When I pulled up beside his window, he looked at me like "where the hell'd you come from?"

Not all of us are retarded......when people ask me what the hardest part of my job is...without hesitation I reply...other drivers...bikes included.....and bicycles.....and sometimes other busses.....
Cant see anything closer than ten feet from my rear bumper....especiall y when the young uns' feet are obstructing my view through the rear (small) window....you may think the driver sees you....alot going on there.....
Had a motorcycle pull up on my left, we were doing about 35, cut to the right, right in front of me.no signal..less than a couple feet from my front bumper...good for him I was paying attention, had to stomp the brakes to not hit him.....retarded biker....right?.....
Now with cell phones and, apparently, inoperative turn signals on 75 or 80% of vehicles these days...it becomes more of a challenge to do my job.......
Remember, chances are the bus is going to win so give a wide berth.....and try not to generalise.....afte r all, we are "those bikers" here......

[Mark Harpell]

Before we start trashing school bus drivers , try driving a bus loaded with 50 little screaming Jennies and Johnnies and navigating traffic that refuses to recognize that maybe a giant yellow vehicle carrying mommy and daddy's precious little cargo should be given some room to maneuver .

 Dusty

This.....

[Nic in Western NYS]

Before we start trashing school bus drivers , try driving a bus loaded with 50 little screaming Jennies and Johnnies and navigating traffic that refuses to recognize that maybe a giant yellow vehicle carrying mommy and daddy's precious little cargo should be given some room to maneuver .

 Dusty

I'm surprised more of those school bus drivers don't just stop somewhere safe, like in front of a hospital or fire department, open the door, and walk away.  It must not be easy to drive with that chaos in your ear, day after day.

[Triple Jim]

In my experience as a passenger on them, drivers are like teachers; some control the kids and some don't.  The driver I rode with most of the time was known to not take any crap, so she didn't get any.  Of course, back then if a kid misbehaved, a driver might stop and kick him off, making him walk the rest of the way.  These days that would probably get the driver fired.

[Scud]

All bus drivers are...
All motorcyclist are...
All absolute statements are false. (except for this one, which is true, which is ironic, because it negates itself... my brain hurts)

Busses, big trucks, erratic drivers, etc. All reasons to create more distance: outmaneuver, outwit, outlast.

As a kid, I rode a bus to school in Upstate NY. There's no bussing in my kids school district here in CA - every parent drives their own kid to school. Total waste of time and resources.

[Penderic]

People should walk more.




 

[redrider]

I drove one as a senior in HS. No formal training. It was a private school and the parents pooled their assets and bought 5 busses. I drove #5. I never had any incidents with traffic, always cautious and a lot of fun. (I also was allowed to skip 6th period to prep the bus for the ride home.) Theodore DuBose was the only problem child. He was a delinquent little POS spoiled brat and his parents had money. Should have had his head pinched off at birth. Elizabeth Whatzername had a crush on me. Pretty much just kids with energy to spare.

40 years later, the Columbia area public school drivers are 90% aggressive black women with no regard for signage, speed limits or courtesy. You get what you pay for.

[Scud]

I drove one as a senior in HS. No formal training. It was a private school and the parents pooled their assets and bought 5 busses. I drove #5.

How times have changed. I looked into exactly that for my neighborhood. Everything made perfect sense until we needed insurance... no go. And we would have had to register with the state as a bus operator or limousine service.


Penderic - I love the KTM bus. Where do you find this stuff?

[Sheepdog]

Back when the US transitioned to the current Commercial Driver's License format, I decided that I would get certified for everything. Out of all the categories...tanker s, multiple trailers, hazmat, etc...the passenger bus segment was the hardest test. If bus drivers do a bad job, it is not because they don't know any better...

[atavar]

I have always given busses a wide berth and a lot of discretion, not because I think they are actually better drivers but more because I am so glad I don't have that job.  I could not do it without a huge prescription for tranquilizers.  Not only do they have to deal one on one with the general public which is a taxing job at best, but they also have to deal with the horrid urban drivers 8 hours a day who seem to think it is a victory to cutt in front of a bus at the last second never taking in to account that a bus is probably the slowest vehicle on the road to change speed or direction. 
Bus drivers deserve huge kudo's for the simple fact that we don't hear of them running over a half dozen Prius's a day.

[Penderic]

Besides buses, I don't like these much also ........

... trolley rails! 




Don't like em. Scary when wet.

(Hi Scud - Thanks! I got a lot of cute pics from surfing many, many graphic sites years ago - too much time on my hands!  )

[rboe]

The most common bus accident. Some idgit rear ends the bus on a bight sunny day. Go figure.

[Triple Jim]

When I was a little kid, one of the mothers driving her kid to school locked bumpers with a bus out front.  It was a fairly funny scene.

[Scott of the Sahara]

Over 30 years ago I was a School Bus Driver. I enjoyed the job, but did not get enough hours to make a living.
We were making over triple of minimum wage ($7.00/ HR the first year $7.50 the second and $8.00 the third year. minimum wage was $2.50). I had a 4 hour split shift, then moved up to a 5 hour split shift.
I loved the kids, even the problem ones.