Dublin Bus....abuse

CdeC · 01-11-2010 11:28AM #1

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 · 01-11-2010 11:31AM

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

Morlar · 01-11-2010 11:32AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:33AM

biko wrote: »

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

Zing!

nyarlothothep · 01-11-2010 11:34AM

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

PanchoVilla · 01-11-2010 11:38AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:40AM

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

doolox · 01-11-2010 11:40AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:42AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:43AM

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

Mits · 01-11-2010 11:44AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:44AM

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

I wouldn't bother with DB.

the_syco · 01-11-2010 11:50AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:50AM

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

gaz wac · 01-11-2010 11:51AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:52AM

the_syco wrote: »

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

Of course they do. :rolleyes:

senordingdong · 01-11-2010 11:54AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:56AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:56AM

fooking cyclists !!!

/also fooking buses

biko · 01-11-2010 11:56AM

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

Jaxxy · 01-11-2010 11:57AM

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 · 01-11-2010 11:59AM

I hate cyclists

Mits · 01-11-2010 12:03PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:11PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:14PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:15PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:23PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:24PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:24PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:26PM

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 · 01-11-2010 12:29PM

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.

Dublin Bus....abuse

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