Dublin Bus....abuse

CdeC

Cycling to work today. Was along leeson street and a bus starting veering in and sandwiching me towards the curb. I got by just in time and waved at the driver and gave a thumbs up, a gesture by which I meant "look dont forget about cyclists".I wasn't angry and realise how tight the space is there.

Anyway go through the lights and I am cycling along the south end of Stephens green when the bus slows down alongside me. I look across and the driver is looking straight at me and giving me the finger. The bus stops at the lights and I open the door with the emergency release. The driver starts shouting at me with profanities as I explain that there was a cycling lane and he was in the wrong. ANyway he basically just shouts "****OFF" and closes the door and drives off.

I was shocked but really dont know if it is worth my while complaining. Dublin Bus is notoriously bad for dealing with complaints.

biko

You did the right thing. Complaining to the bus company won't work.
Ranting in After Hours will.

Morlar

CdeC wrote: »

I was shocked but really dont know if it is worth my while complaining. Dublin Bus is notoriously bad for dealing with complaints.

If that's true you should still complain to them with the bus number time etc.

Sykk

biko wrote: »

You did the right thing. Complaining to the bus company won't work.
Ranting in After Hours will.

Zing!

nyarlothothep

you might as well complain, if you're not in you cant win etc.

PanchoVilla

You should have jumped on the bus and beat him senseless with your bike lock. It's the only way they'll learn. I hate Dublin Bus drivers almost as much as I hate Dublin taxi drivers, although cycling through Dublin is a great buzz. It's like bungee jumping with a really old bungee, it's only a matter of time before you end up with your face smashed into something.

flyton5

You should have let him run you over OP. He'd probably be quite shaken and learn his lesson...

doolox

Get your word in. The more users that complain the better.

DB are the worst offenders for just pulling out in front of any traffic and not caring about who they hold up collecting/letting off passengers.

fenris

Gardai or don't bother, the Dublin bus complaints department main function is damage limitation. Report it to the Gardai, that way the next time a bus driver actually manages to cream someone there will be a track record, that will either help the victim or their family afterwards.

antodeco

Just cycle in front of the bus, really really slow. If he wants to use the cycle lane, you use the bus lane!

Mits

You should complain, and when that does not work then complain to the ombudsman. Eventually if enough people complain something will be done.

Just thinking can you report him to the garda for dangerous driving.

seamus

Report it to the Gardai - dangerous driving, attempted assault, breach of the peace.

I wouldn't bother with DB.

the_syco

doolox wrote: »

DB are the worst offenders for just pulling out in front of any traffic

I do believe they have the right of way...

Duggy747

You should've hopped on, punched him, and cycled off again doing some "extreme" stunts through the back alleys :pac:

gaz wac

CdeC wrote: »

The bus stops at the lights and I open the door with the emergency release. The driver starts shouting at me with profanities .

Dont really blame him....you's had a scuffle, make your complaint but to go and do the above is very irresponsible :rolleyes:

flyton5

the_syco wrote: »

I do believe they have the right of way...

Of course they do. :rolleyes:

senordingdong

Bring forward a case of attempted murder by dangerous driving.

That ought to draw enough negative attention to make the managment discipline the drivers.

phill106

the_syco wrote: »

I do believe they have the right of way...

Ok, it has been a while since I did my test, but i don't remember anything about busses having right of way as opposed to other vehicles.
Granted they drive like that, but indicating does not give you right of way.

mikerowsopht

fooking cyclists !!!

















/also fooking buses

biko

Learn your lesson, don't mess with vehicles bigger than you.

Jaxxy

gaz wac wrote: »

Dont really blame him....you's had a scuffle, make your complaint but to go and do the above is very irresponsible :rolleyes:

I'd have to agree with that, you opened the door of the bus. Why did you do that? You'd have had grounds for a legitimate complaint if you'd just taken down the details of the bus and carried on with your day. Opening the emergency door guaranteed that you'd have an aggressive exchange with the driver.

Fuhrer

I hate cyclists

Mits

gaz wac wrote: »

Dont really blame him....you's had a scuffle, make your complaint but to go and do the above is very irresponsible :rolleyes:

I don't think this is irresponsible at all to open the door when the bus is stopped.

To have an A55hole being unconsiderate to other road users and sitting in the bus giving you the finger and he is supposed to be responsible for the saftey of his passengers. I think this is more irresponsibe.

Jaxxy

Mits wrote: »

I don't think this is irresponsible at all to open the door when the bus is stopped.

To have an A55hole being unconsiderate to other road users and sitting in the bus giving you the finger and he is supposed to be responsible for the saftey of his passengers. I think this is more irresponsibe.

No, the bus driver giving him the finger did not give the cyclist the right to open the emergency door. I'm assuming you know what health and safety is. Opening the emergency door from the outside when there is no emergency is irresponsible.

A bus driver giving a cyclist the finger is rude, but not something that warrants what the OP did.

Degsy

senordingdong wrote: »

Bring forward a case of attempted murder by dangerous driving..

Are you serious?
Its only a bleeding cyclist and he wasnt hurt anyway.

flyton5

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

No, the bus driver giving him the finger did not give the cyclist the right to open the emergency door. I'm assuming you know what health and safety is. Opening the emergency door from the outside when there is no emergency is irresponsible.

A bus driver giving a cyclist the finger is rude, but not something that warrants what the OP did.

The emergency door is just the main door on the bus. Stand at any terminus and watch the drivers having their break. When they're done they use the emergency handle to open the door and get on. Have you ever seen a lock on a bus door?? Doubt it.


Also, Health and Safety me hole. It's the Health and Safety Nazis like yourself who've ruined this country...

Jaxxy

flyton5 wrote: »

The emergency door is just the main door on the bus. Stand at any terminus and watch the drivers having their break. When they're done they use the emergency handle to open the door and get on. Have you ever seen a lock on a bus door?? Doubt it.


Also, Health and Safety me hole. It's the Health and Safety Nazis like yourself who've ruined this country...

That's all irrelevant really. It certainly doesn't give a cyclist the right to open an emergency door (whether it's used by the drivers on their break or not) while the bus is in use and stopped in traffic.

Honestly what good was this going to do the cyclist? As I said before him opening the emergency door when he wasn't supposed to was always going to guarantee an aggressive response and exchange from the bus driver. Why? Because you're not supposed to do it.

Had the cyclist not responded aggressively then he would have had grounds for complaint. Now he doesn't have a leg to stand on IMO.

Health and safety guidelines are in place to protect people. It's not being a Nazi, it's being responsible. Calling me a Nazi because I happen to think it's stupid to open an emergency door for no other reason than to have a go at a driver who gave you the finger is a bit unfair. I'm sure you didn't mean to jump to that uninformed conclusion, or maybe you did and that's your style, who knows, certainly not me I've never met you before.

Wicklowrider

OP - instead of using the emergency door open lever I would have used the emeregency engine switch off - a clown like that driver needs the few moments to cool off and collect his thoughts. He either wants to drive for a living or he doesn't - if its getting to him to that extent he needs to rethink his career.
Had a close one in Shankill one day and the bus driver pulled up beside me and actually apologised.They aren't all bad.

senordingdong

Degsy wrote: »

Are you serious?
Its only a bleeding cyclist and he wasnt hurt anyway.

HEY!



I hate cyclists as much as anyone.


But I also hate Dublin Bus drivers.


I'm just stirring the ****.

dirtynosebeps

to the o.p. what you both did was stupid and highly dangerous. his driving and you opening the doors. what would've happened if he had a standing passenger waiting to get off , you open the doors they get off and get by someone.who'd be in more trouble????
as for cyclists. since this bus gate came in i have noticed that cyclists seem to think they own the roads. they dont look when over taking, they turn corners with other vehicles incl buses and trucks in my eyes playing russian roulette. while he might have drove dangerously did you in any way annoy the driver by bad cycling? did you break a red light, pull infront of him. etc. just in case you've reported his bad driving i would like to point out that theres cameras all over those babies and if you did do something illegal/dangerous to start of the conflict this would also be picked up.

Red Alert

Sorry, cyclists, but you all cause most of your own problems. Blaming the bus man is childish. I've lost count of the number of cyclists who feel that the rules of the road only apply to buses and cars. I'm fed up of cyclists who take over the road, won't move a little to the left to allow a safe overtake, break red lights and give abuse to car drivers.

Also OP you were very very irresponsible to operate the emergency door release on the bus. It's there for emergencies only, and on some buses it's not straightforward to reset it. If you did that to the LUAS's one you could be facing a big fine and a possible court appearance. Your actions could have resulted in a prolonged and dangerous situation on the road, as well as inconveniencing the passengers onboard. No wonder cyclists have a bad name.

gaz wac

Mits wrote: »

I don't think this is irresponsible at all to open the door when the bus is stopped.
.

Its not ok at ANY time, there was no emergency !! and the driver could have drove at any second, he only stopped for the lights !!

so say if you miss your bus, would you run up to it at the next set of traffic lights, press the emergency open button and let yourself on ?? I could see the driver calling the gards !!

flyton5

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

Health and safety guidelines are in place to protect people. It's not being a Nazi, it's being responsible. Calling me a Nazi because I happen to think it's stupid to open an emergency door for no other reason than to have a go at a driver who gave you the finger is a bit unfair. I'm sure you didn't mean to jump to that uninformed conclusion, or maybe you did and that's your style, who knows, certainly not me I've never met you before.

Ok ok...maybe Nazi is a bit strong. Facist? Better?


And have you never seen bus drivers motoring along on a hot day with the door open to get some cool air onto the bus? It's not exactly dangerous to open the door.

As for the Health and Safety thing. How did people cope back in the day? Kids can't run in playgrounds anymore because it's not safe. Bit've cop on wouldn't go astray.

jackiebaron

Carry with you a bottle of piss or sour milk. If such a thing happens again, hit the emergency door lever and sling the bottle (with cap removed) into his cab. Let the bastard spend the rest of the day driving around in his foul-smelling gas chamber.

seamus

Red Alert wrote: »

Sorry, cyclists, but you all cause most of your own problems.

I'm sorry, but I didn't realise we were all part of some big affiliation which allowed us to control the actions of other people on bikes.

Taking your frustration with one person out on another person who happens to be using the same mode of transport is the height of idiocy and shows nothing but a completely blinkered and self-righteous view of the world.

Should I be allowed to push little old ladies out of my way because other pedestrians keep cutting me off when I'm walking down the path?

Should I be cutting taxis off and beeping at them because a guy did the same thing to me five minutes down the road?

CdeC

To be fair there was noone on the bus when it was stopped as it was not on route and no number on it. I just reacted as you do when you get abuse. Noone was in danger.

I was cycling along and in the cycle lane and the bus was veering in towards me so I did nothing wrong and I am a very good cyclist. Also while he was giving me the finger he was looking at me and I didn't look straight away as I wasn;t expecting it. So he had his eyes off the road for a good 3 seconds.

C'mon now I reckon people need to get behind cyclists and IMO cyclists get a bad wrap, we have to deal with bad driving, half asleep perdestrians and cold and ****ty weather.

Jaxxy

flyton5 wrote: »

Ok ok...maybe Nazi is a bit strong. Facist? Better?


And have you never seen bus drivers motoring along on a hot day with the door open to get some cool air onto the bus? It's not exactly dangerous to open the door.

As for the Health and Safety thing. How did people cope back in the day? Kids can't run in playgrounds anymore because it's not safe. Bit've cop on wouldn't go astray.

I've actually never seen a bus driving along with the emergency door open.

I completely agree and a bit of cop on certainly wouldn't go astray. Children running in playgrounds, etc is a completely different issue though in fairness. Opening an emergency door while a bus is in use just to have a row with a bus driver shows a distinct lack of cop on in my opinion.

Certainly some health and safety guidelines can be a bit on the extreme side, but I don't think this happens to be one of them. And while people might have coped just fine "back in the day", this does not mean that there were never instances where a little health and safety might have saved lives. The fire in the Stardust nightclub in Artane would be a prime example of this.

ThisRegard

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

Opening the emergency door from the outside when there is no emergency is irresponsible.

What's this emergency door you speak of ? He opened the regular door with the external switch, while the bus was stopped. Now I haven't been on too many buses recently but I'm pretty sure they don't fall over and empty themselves of all their passengers when this happens.

An inordinate amount of DB drivers act like twats to cyclists.



Fooking motorists like people on this thread giving the rest of us a bad name.

gaz wac wrote: »

I could see the driver calling the gards !!

I don't know what or who gards are but the thought of a bus driver ringing anyone and waiting for them to come because someone opened his door from the outside is hilarious.

gurramok

I don't think you should complain to the Gardai, it could be you that would end up arrested for interfering with a vehicle and endangering the lives of the bus driver and many passengers.

prinz

Lost all sympathy when you decided to interfere with the bus.

ThisRegard

gurramok wrote: »

I don't think you should complain to the Gardai, it could be you that would end up arrested for interfering with a vehicle and endangering the lives of the bus driver and many passengers.

HA HA HA HA HA HA C'mon people, get real, this is real Joe Duffy stuff right here.

gurramok

ThisRegard wrote: »

HA HA HA HA HA HA C'mon people, get real, this is real Joe Duffy stuff right here.

I ain't Joe Duffy

Whats so funny about endangering innocent passenger lives?:eek:

thebigbiffo

cyclists wreck my head.

they're up there with dublin bus drivers imo. both think they own the road, both are angry as f'uck at any slight problem and both deserve a kicking the majority of the time they open their mouth to complain about anyone else on the street...

f'uckin cyclists

gaz wac

ThisRegard wrote: »

I don't know what or who gards are but the thought of a bus driver ringing anyone and waiting for them to come because someone opened his door from the outside is hilarious.

Are ya for real...... obvious troll, is obvious :pac:

gurramok

Actually opening the door of the bus without permission could be a form of attempted hijacking?
In this day and age of security, no wonder the passengers would have been terrified from a random stranger roaring and shouting into the bus!

Wicklowrider

Red Alert wrote: »

Sorry, cyclists, but you all cause most of your own problems. Blaming the bus man is childish..

Read the OP - Cyclist was almost squashed by Bus - in what way exactly do you understand that to be the cyclist being childish? And you drive and condone the bus drivers conduct? Did you pass a test?

Red Alert wrote: »

I've lost count of the number of cyclists who feel that the rules of the road only apply to buses and cars. I'm fed up of cyclists who take over the road, won't move a little to the left to allow a safe overtake, break red lights and give abuse to car drivers. ..

We, real cyclists included, are all fed up with tossers who break the road traffic act. That does not give carte blanche to endanger cyclists using a vehicle - is that simple enough for you? Encouraging morons like that bus driver is dangerous and irresponsible. In the past few weeks I have heard of a woman cyclist being slapped by a passenger in a car, Another woman cyclist having a bottle thrown at her from a car and a cyclist being deliberately knocked down by a motorist " to teach him a lesson".

Red Alert wrote: »

Also OP you were very very irresponsible to operate the emergency door release on the bus. It's there for emergencies only, and on some buses it's not straightforward to reset it. If you did that to the LUAS's one you could be facing a big fine and a possible court appearance. Your actions could have resulted in a prolonged and dangerous situation on the road, as well as inconveniencing the passengers onboard. No wonder cyclists have a bad name.

1. It is NOT there for emergencies only. BTW attempting to squash a human would be a fair description of an emergency....
2. He wasn't near a luas - keep daydreaming ( are you driving?)
3. Motorists and glasshouses regarding "bad names" .. You do know that the Central Statitics Office regularly update us as to accidents and the causes? Did you ever bother to read any of those reports or even listen to the gist of them on the news?

I hate cyclists that stick their thumbs up at me.

Gary4279

antodeco wrote: »

Just cycle in front of the bus, really really slow. If he wants to use the cycle lane, you use the bus lane!

Done this myself once for a good ten minutes to a taxi the full length of the quays. He even tried to run into the back of my wheel. One very pissed of taxi drivers.

gonedrinking

gurramok wrote: »

I ain't Joe Duffy

Whats so funny about endangering innocent passenger lives?:eek:

its funny because people don't fall out of a bus when its stationary

gurramok

gonedrinking wrote: »

its funny because people don't fall out of a bus when its stationary

Opening those doors could have given an elderly passenger a heart attack as its a frightening experience to have a random stranger trying to board the bus while shouting and roaring at the driver.

phasers

Cyclists are the devil, but bus drivers are just as bad.

Who do I root for in this story?