Dublin Bus Drivers:popping off for tea.

bobbyss

My bus arrives. The driver, hops out and pops into nearby shop for cup of tea. Two minutes later he hops on the bus again. And off we go. Starts drinking his tea while driving.

I get off at my stop and run to catch my connecting bus but it takes off. I have a twenty minute wait for my next one.

Am I angry? Boy am I angry.

StreetLight

And so you should be. Unacceptable behaviour.

Hollister11

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

StreetLight

Hollister11 wrote: »

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

And maybe spills it when driving, causing him to lose control of the bus.

visual

sugarman wrote: »

Hollister11 wrote: »

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

Yeah, on his designated break time, not mid route.

Look out the window plenty of car drivers drinking coffee especially in morning

Van.Bosch

Hollister11 wrote: »

Gosh forbid the driver gets himself a cup of tea

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

In fairness OP, you wouldn't have been late for the other bus, if the other bus driver had also stopped for a cup of tea.

So there's two ways of looking at it, really..


More seriously, I don't mind the idea of a bus driver spending a couple of minutes out of the bus getting tea, using a toilet, stretching the legs, etc. you can't expect him to be a robot because he drives a bus.

Van.Bosch

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

I'd be confident they all do. Between appointments etc. the only difference is the taxi driver. If the meter was paused, I wouldn't mind at all. Especially if it was a long journey fare.

bobbyss

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'd be confident they all do. Between appointments etc. the only difference is the taxi driver. If the meter was paused, I wouldn't mind at all. Especially if it was a long journey fare.

But am not talking about between appointments. If your doctor is examining you I don't think he's going to leave the surgery to get a cup of tea?
Drinking hot drinks as a professional driver? I am not sure that is ok.

D0NNELLY

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

Yes
He may as well blame traffic lights, passengers getting on/off and other traffic for him missing his connecting bus. They all played a part.

20 mins wait time is acceptable on public transport.

savagethegoat

bobbyss wrote: »

My bus arrives. The driver, hops out and pops into nearby shop for cup of tea. Two minutes later he hops on the bus again. And off we go. Starts drinking his tea while driving.

I get off at my stop and run to catch my connecting bus but it takes off. I have a twenty minute wait for my next one.

Am I angry? Boy am I angry.

that's not really a connecting bus. Noone should leave themselves only two minutes to connect. Twenty minutes would be far more sensible.

helimachoptor

I think it's still done now but not on my route as its changed. But on oliver plunkett road there's 2 chippers, drivers used to regularly stop on the way to dun laoghaire for something to eat.. on a busy day you could be 10 mins waiting for them!

frankyboy1986

I was the driver and it was a coffee btw

Hollister11

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

Yes. I would.

Zipppy

A human bus driver...fair play to him popping in for tea....keep him alert to road dangers to protect his passengers....

And..assuming this was dublin bus....no such thing as a connecting bus...if not DB ignore this comment ðŸ˜

savagethegoat

it could be the case that the bus was 2 minutes early and waiting time so the Driver took his opportunity. Not the end of the world

bobbyss

savagethegoat wrote: »

that's not really a connecting bus. Noone should leave themselves only two minutes to connect. Twenty minutes would be far more sensible.

I don't know.

My second bus departs at eg 11:00. Not 10:58.

But I could have been there anytime before departure as per normal without the driver induced delay. It would be irrelevant if I was two minutes early or ten minutes early. The bus still leaves at 12:00. I arrived at 12:02 instead and I saw my bus departing from its stop as I was running towards it.

We lost the two minutes because driver decided to have a cuppa. What about if that was the last connecting bus at night? That's really upsetting.

Cork Lass

Did the bus leave late because he got a cuppa or did he get a cuppa because he had time to spare? It's all how you tell the story.

mahoganygas

I walk past a driver who does this every morning.

I'd see no problem with it usually, except he parks in the bus lane, causing carnage when all of the buses behind him have to merge into main lane which is already at a standstill.

Del.Monte

Ah, God be with the days (back in the 1970s) when bus crews could be seen hopping in and out of various pubs on the quays during their breaks. I kid you not.

NomadicGray

Dont leave yourself only a two minute window to catch connecting buses.

endacl

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Would you be okay with a doctor/teacher/taxi driver stopping during their job while performing a service for you for a cuppa?

If it was a procedure as long as a driver's shift, I'd expect them to take a break.

Ted111

If the bus was late leaving according to its time table then passengers have a legitimate complaint with dublin bus.

If the bus leaves at its designated time then what the driver does before hand is nobodies business. Tea and cake. A walk in the park to pick flowers. He can go for a back massage if he wants.

Baralis1

Give that man a pay rise!

rawn

Little did you know, OP, that if the driver had not stopped for tea he would have been 2 minutes earlier for his route than he should have been. This would have meant an encounter with a speeding motorist, late for a meeting, who broke a red light and would have hit your bus head on, killing himself, the bus driver and 2 passengers, one of whom was just about to make a connecting bus. Count yourself lucky OP, he prevented a terrible catastroph-tea.

spurious

sugarman wrote: »

Yeah, on his designated break time, not mid route.

And maybe his designated break time was an hour earlier while he was still driving in traffic.

Maybe all drivers should just stop the bus in the middle of the road when it gets to their designated break time, instead of finishing the route.

endacl

Thread summary: OP missed a bus.

magicbastarder

rawn wrote: »

Count yourself lucky OP, he prevented a terrible catastroph-tea.

someone coudl have run red lights in front of him, which would have resulted in them being T-boned by the bus.

punisher5112

Op suggestion for you if you happen to come across this again ask him could he call control to ask bus to wait the minute for you.

degsie

#firstworldproblem

demanufactured

Isn't it terrible Joe

Sparks43

Was it not part of the strike negotiations that drivers got an extra 2 minute break per shift?

Del2005

bobbyss wrote: »

I don't know.

My second bus departs at eg 11:00. Not 10:58.

But I could have been there anytime before departure as per normal without the driver induced delay. It would be irrelevant if I was two minutes early or ten minutes early. The bus still leaves at 12:00. I arrived at 12:02 instead and I saw my bus departing from its stop as I was running towards it.

We lost the two minutes because driver decided to have a cuppa. What about if that was the last connecting bus at night? That's really upsetting.

Most bus companies don't do connections which Ryanair successfully followed. So if you miss the last bus because another is late it's not their responsibility. You've also no idea what schedule that the bus that stopped was on, it could have been 5 minutes ahead and told to stop, so the driver stretched their legs.

savagethegoat

it could also be that the driver missed his break due to traffic and was snatching a quick cuppa whilst working on so as to not inconvenience too many people. Had he insisted in this instance of his full break, you could have missed the bus 20 minutes later too.

macroman

EU Tachograph laws mandate that for every 4.5 hours of driving or work a break of 45 mins is required, however often in Dublin Bus you will be driving for up to 6 hours at a time before a break. This is because DB scheduled routes are exempt from EU tachograph rules and fall under domestic driving laws. As a result drivers are entitled to take 3 minutes off the bus each end of the route - regardless of whether the bus is late or not.

Gerry T

If he stopped mid route with passengers on the bus he should be sacked, no excuse
If you got on at a terminus then I see no problem, but again the bus should be locked and your only on the bus when the driver is.
When he left the bus was the engineering left running.
Finally he delayed 2min and you missed a connection??? Totally your fault, any traffic could delay any bus 5min at anytime of the day

punisher5112

If it was to use toilet it's fine but I myself wouldn't do that if I was a driver with passengers on.

suicide_circus

My favourite is when there is a change of drivers on the 747/757 and the two lads have a 5+ minute chat with a full bus of people trying to get to the airport.

Drivers demanding professional pay and respect while acting like a 17 year old checkout girl chatting with her mates while customers try to pay for their shopping.

bobbyss

Cork Lass wrote: »

Did the bus leave late because he got a cuppa or did he get a cuppa because he had time to spare? It's all how you tell the story.

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. Waiting for the bus with other people. Bus comes along and stops at bus stop. Bus pretty full. Maybe about 10 people get off. Ten get on. Then instead of continuing on, off he pops for a cuppa! I can't recall if he left the engine on.

I may miss my next bus because of traffic or accidents or whatever but I don't expect to miss my connecting bus because the driver wanted to spend two minutes sorting himself out for a drink.

DB drivers are professional drivers and so I don't think they are allowed to exit a bus and leave engine on so I wonder are they allowed to pop off for a tea whilst in mid run. I don't even know the law for bus drivers on drinking tea whilst driving. Law seems quite strict regarding mobiles.

As in my example above, I would find it a bit strange if my doctor said to me in the middle of my consultation; 'Just a moment please, I need to pop off for a cuppa. Back in two'.

spurious

bobbyss wrote: »

I may miss my next bus because of traffic or accidents or whatever but I don't expect to miss my connecting bus because the driver wanted to spend two minutes sorting himself out for a drink.

Unless he was a diabetic. I'd rather be delayed a couple of minutes than have a crash.

We don't know the full story here.

Jimmy Garlic

First world ''problems''.

Dublinstiofán

Looks to me like you were early for the second bus!

Donal55

Del.Monte wrote: »

Ah, God be with the days (back in the 1970s) when bus crews could be seen hopping in and out of various pubs on the quays during their breaks. I kid you not.

The County Bar in Rialto was home to the 19/19A bus routes back in the day. I remember drivers sitting around, having a smoke, running in and out of bookies. Ah yes, those were the days.

J_E

The story is missing details - and if 2 minutes was enough for you to miss a connection, that's down to bad time management. That could have been a 2 minute traffic delay. Hard to feel concern or sympathy here.

bobbyss

spurious wrote: »

Unless he was a diabetic. I'd rather be delayed a couple of minutes than have a crash.

We don't know the full story here.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can explain.

The essence of my query is:do you think DB drivers should be allowed to pop off for a cuppa under the above circumstances? There may be consequences to this viz delays and passenger discontent.

StreetLight

The thing that concerns me most, which nobody seems to give a flying fcuk about, is the driver driving whilst drinking. Does nobody else see that as a potential distraction?

Tazium

The driver is responsible for your safety and that of other passengers. He might have been tired, needed some air, a toilet break or anything else. These things if not solved could also endanger you.

It hasn't been said already but how about you preempt the situation and bring him a cuppa from the shop? Good karma and you'll be on time for whatever bus you take next.

savagethegoat

bobbyss wrote: »

Please let me know if there is anything else I can explain.

The essence of my query is:do you think DB drivers should be allowed to pop off for a cuppa under the above circumstances? There may be consequences to this viz delays and passenger discontent.

two minutes delay when you come down to it....not worth getting upset about

savagethegoat

StreetLight wrote: »

The thing that concerns me most, which nobody seems to give a flying fcuk about, is the driver driving whilst drinking. Does nobody else see that as a potential distraction?

not me, (nearly) every vehicle in the land has cup holders, s/ok by me.

LXFlyer

I do not think that it's right that a driver would leave a bus that is full of passengers to purchase something in a shop mid-journey. That is not acceptable.

At the same time, the OP clearly had a very tight connection and anything could have happened to cause that first bus to arrive at the connecting point after the second bus had served it.

To be clear, there is no officially timed point on any bus service in Dublin other than the departure from the terminus.

Advice to the OP - perhaps get the bus ahead of that first one in future to ensure you make the second bus. This comes from personal experience. I, for the last seven months used two routes to get to work and three routes back in the evening.

I always left a little bit early on the opening journey in the mornings to ensure I made the connection. I could have taken a later bus but traffic conditions could vary significantly and it was occasionally later than normal at the point where I would change routes.

Sure I had a longer wait, but I went and got myself a coffee, and I always made the second bus. Sometimes getting stressed about things like this isn't really worth it.

LXFlyer

StreetLight wrote: »

The thing that concerns me most, which nobody seems to give a flying fcuk about, is the driver driving whilst drinking. Does nobody else see that as a potential distraction?

Perhaps he only drank it when the bus was stopped?


I don't see an issue with that?