Dublin bus drivers

horse7

Very sad case of a cyclist death involving a Dublin bus driver in the paper today. While the majority of Dublin bus drivers are terrific, there is a growing number of dangerous ones out there that are braking too hard, driving too fast and driving dangerously. Has anyone else noticed a growing number of dangerous Dublin bus drivers.

.G.

Having driven them myself I know how hard it can be to do well but there's quite a few bad drivers in general in this country, not just behind the wheel of a bus. The vast majority of buses I use though are driven impeccably I must say however I was on one a few weeks back and he was awful, fast acceleration and hard on the brakes every time so it was hard to stay upright if you were standing. He seemed to have no awareness of the size of his vehicle when faced with narrowing gaps until the very last second or the foresight to be looking well down the road to see whats ahead, everything he did was last minute and violent. Sent my young son flying down the stairs while we tried to come down from the top deck, lucky I caught him. That lad defo needs a few days back in the training school.

When I was there they used to do the Institute of advanced motorists tests, not sure If they still do but this lad would have no chance of passing it.

horse7

superg wrote: »

Having driven them myself I know how hard it can be to do well but there's quite a few bad drivers in general in this country, not just behind the wheel of a bus. The vast majority of buses I use though are driven impeccably I must say however I was on one a few weeks back and he was awful, fast acceleration and hard on the brakes every time so it was hard to stay upright if you were standing. He seemed to have no awareness of the size of his vehicle when faced with narrowing gaps until the very last second or the foresight to be looking well down the road to see whats ahead, everything he did was last minute and violent. Sent my young son flying down the stairs while we tried to come down from the top deck, lucky I caught him. That lad defo needs a few days back in the training school.

When I was there they used to do the Institute of advanced motorists tests, not sure If they still do but this lad would have no chance of passing it.

The Dublin bus I was on braked hard,sent a standing person flying,hit the ground near the door, the driver continued on slowly for 50 metres, the fire brigade arrived about 20 minutes later with ambulance. No communication whatsoever from the driver.The fire brigade had to access the bus by the emergency door as person was screaming in pain at the door. Worst driver I've come across. Ps prior to this the driver had been erratically breaking hard.

.G.

Camera's all around them these days so if its bad driving or avoidance of something that caused him/her to break hard it'll be noted.

horse7

superg wrote: »

Camera's all around them these days so if its bad driving or avoidance of something that caused him/her to break hard it'll be noted.

I'm sure it will, not much help to the injured person.

prinzeugen

horse7 wrote: »

Very sad case of a cyclist death involving a Dublin bus driver in the paper today. While the majority of Dublin bus drivers are terrific, there is a growing number of dangerous ones out there that are braking too hard, driving too fast and driving dangerously. Has anyone else noticed a growing number of dangerous Dublin bus drivers.

What is your definition of dangerous? I have been on many busses that have been driven erratically at times but never driven dangerously.

If you think a bus braking to hard is bad, try a Luas hitting the anchors at 40kph and coming to a stop in less than its own length. Necessary but not dangerous.

horse7

prinzeugen wrote: »

What is your definition of dangerous? I have been on many busses that have been driven erratically at times but never driven dangerously.

If you think a bus braking to hard is bad, try a Luas hitting the anchors at 40kph and coming to a stop in less than its own length. Necessary but not dangerous.

Necessary is allowed , persistent is dangerous.

Stephen15

Haven't expierenced too much bad driving from DB bus drivers. Ok I know one stretch of road where they like to speed but it's not by too much. City buses are limited to 60km/ph so they wouldn't be speeding to reckless levels.

Wishbone Ash

horse7 wrote: »

...Has anyone else noticed a growing number of dangerous Dublin bus drivers.

No .....but have noticed it with Bus Eireann, Mathews Coaches and Aircoach drivers.

Yer Da sells Avon

There are a lot of things about Dublin Bus that deserve criticism, but driving standards are generally very high, especially when you consider the conditions (road quality and poorly engineered infrastructure, traffic volume, etc) under which they have to operate. It would be easier to cycle a bike around your living room.

prinzeugen

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

No .....but have noticed it with Bus Eireann, Mathews Coaches and Aircoach drivers.

Says the guy that posts Strava segments.. How may Road Traffic Laws did you break to gain them??

magicbastarder

uhhh... that's a little weird.
it's like saying 'you drove from dublin to donegal. how many road traffic laws did you break to manage that?'

Macy0161

horse7 wrote: »

Has anyone else noticed a growing number of dangerous Dublin bus drivers.

As a cyclist, I'd rate Dublin Bus drivers as the best group of our "Professional" drivers. Far less close or punishment passes with them compared to taxis, other buses, trucks and vans. Even when I'm on the separated cycle lanes, I find the generally courteous when it comes to where the cycle lane interacts with bus stops.

In terms of buses, the private coaches (matthews, aircoach in particular, but I guess there's more of them) and BE are much worse. Wexford Bus seem to have improved since they sponsored "stayin alive at 1.5" - at the time they got involved, they were among the worst I came across tbh and I thought it was very ironic, but they have improved!

magicbastarder

i guess a lot of the other drivers - especially aircoach - are much more 'on the clock'. if a dublin bus gets stuck in traffic, it gets stuck in traffic. if an aircoach gets stuck in traffic (well, if it's airport bound) the passengers have more reason to get antsy.

sharper

I have very few issues with the quality of driving in Dublin Bus. The most dangerous behaviour I've encountered is driving extremely slowly and forcing everyone to overtake. There are some drivers that should definitely not be on the open road.

Now if you could get them to stop somewhere vaguely consistent relative to the actual bus stop instead of 12 feet before or after then it would be great.

TheQuietFella

Absolute legends these guys! Although I think taking on drivers with just a 'B' licence and then providing inhouse training is a mistake!

StreetLight

TheQuietFella wrote: »

Absolute legends these guys! Although I think taking on drivers with just a 'B' licence and then providing inhouse training is a mistake!

Well, the relevant government department is the one which issues the final bus driving licence. Dublin Bus or Go Ahead are as qualified as any certified bus driving instructor to train and prepare holders of B licences for the bus test.

Bear in mind, all candidates must have passed the theory test and hold a learner permit for the bus licence, no matter who trains them for the full test.

Felexicon

sharper wrote: »

I have very few issues with the quality of driving in Dublin Bus. The most dangerous behaviour I've encountered is driving extremely slowly and forcing everyone to overtake. There are some drivers that should definitely not be on the open road.

Can I ask how someone in a different vehicle can force you to overtake them?

sharper

Felexicon wrote: »

Can I ask how someone in a different vehicle can force you to overtake them?

It's a turn of phrase not literal. Obviously the ones taking a chance are the ones doing the overtaking not the slow driver but it creates a dangerous situation nonetheless.

I've been on a Dublin Bus that had to pull over at the side of the road and stop to let the enormous line of traffic that built up behind it go past.

These are rare incidents but most of the thread is about driving fast and hard breaking. I haven't experienced that.

Stephen15

sharper wrote: »

I have very few issues with the quality of driving in Dublin Bus. The most dangerous behaviour I've encountered is driving extremely slowly and forcing everyone to overtake. There are some drivers that should definitely not be on the open road.

I don't think drivers sometimes drive slow because they are incompetent but rather because they want to waste time in order to finish their shift sooner at times.

Yer Da sells Avon

TheQuietFella wrote: »

Absolute legends these guys! Although I think taking on drivers with just a 'B' licence and then providing inhouse training is a mistake!

Why would it be a mistake? The training is provided by fully qualified driving instructors, many of whom have the additional benefit of also being very experienced bus drivers.

.G.

Dublin Bus driving instructors are, in my experience, excellent at their jobs.

TheQuietFella

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

Why would it be a mistake? The training is provided by fully qualified driving instructors, many of whom have the additional benefit of also being very experienced bus drivers.

I appreciate that but my issue is not with those who are providing the training but with those receiving it! Going from a car to a larger vehicle isn't the same thing. It's a different ball game and I think that some drivers forget that!

punisher5112

TheQuietFella wrote: »

I appreciate that but my issue is not with those who are providing the training but with those receiving it! Going from a car to a larger vehicle isn't the same thing. It's a different ball game and I think that some drivers forget that!

Dublin bus has always prefered to get in drivers that haven't driven buses before hence until recently they were nearly the only one hiring only car drivers.

They go through a very thorough training regime of 4 weeks or more.

I have found since a lot have come from previously driving coaches they are a lot harsher drivers.

On the case in point I'm sure the driver didn't set out to kill the poor lady and I'm sure he is dealing with that since.
Unusual for such a trained driver to not spot her to be honest as the training is done where they make one see all these obstacles and issues usually before they arrise.

Very sad really is but on the other side these drivers have a very hard and stressful job dealing with all sorts of crap from passengers, other road users, aggression on a daily basis, complaints, threats and so much much more.

Wishbone Ash

punisher5112 wrote: »

..Unusual for such a trained driver to spot her to be honest....

Presumably you meant 'not to spot her'?

Yer Da sells Avon

TheQuietFella wrote: »

I appreciate that but my issue is not with those who are providing the training but with those receiving it! Going from a car to a larger vehicle isn't the same thing. It's a different ball game and I think that some drivers forget that!

It's no different to learning privately - except that the company is paying for the lessons. Whether you're learning with Dublin Bus, Go Ahead or Irish School of Motoring, you're still making that very same leap from car to larger vehicle.

Stephen15

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

It's no different to learning privately - except that the company is paying for the lessons. Whether you're learning with Dublin Bus, Go Ahead or Irish School of Motoring, you're still making that very same leap from car to larger vehicle.

It is a different type of driving really I would think driving a coach with a private operator compared to driving a city bus with a public service operator. It would take a different type of training for driving a coach on straight open roads not stopping for long distances compared to driving a bus around a city regularly pulling in to pick up passengers. Go-Ahead or anyone coming from further afield eg bus drivers in other cities should be very suitable for a role in Dublin Bus.

Personally maybe training should take in all types of bus operating environments particularly with the motoring schools as this would make candidates highly suitable for both city bus and coach work.

Stephen15

I think there is many faults with Dublin Bus but they're drivers aren't one of them. Most of them are excellent at their jobs as should be expected from the travelling public. I'm sure it's a difficult job and definitely not one to be taken lightly. I was on a bus there a while back and the driver had to slam on the brakes to avoid a cyclist. The driver then beeped the horn and gave him a hell of a lot of abuse and you can't say the cyclist didn't deserve it, I think it was one of those deliveroo gobsh*tes.

dashcamdanny

If I read it right, the bus in question drove into the oncoming cyclists path (who had right of way) while driving into a junction.

Would that be correct?

monument

dashcamdanny wrote: »

If I read it right, the bus in question drove into the oncoming cyclists path (who had right of way) while driving into a junction.

Would that be correct?

Yes, that’s correct, cut the very wide corner.