Bus Rage in Adelaide

[barry taylor]

Trundling down Fullarton Road this afternoon
at the beginning of my daily 30k
I was bundled into the gutter by a STA bus
after pushing off with my shoulder
to avoid becoming road kill
fortunately only doing about 35k/hr at the time

at the Arkaba corner lights I was three vehicles
ahead of the bus

another 200 metres down the road
I'm powering along again
and hugging the yellow line
adjacent to the gutter
and he has another go at running me off the road
this time hitting me on the right shoulder
and the back of my right hand on the bars
fortunately at the last moment I had realised
what he was up to and managed to stay upright

adrenalin pumping I caught up to the bus
at the Greenhill Rd lights
and asked the driver (ever so politely)
if he realised that he had cut me off twice
and had managed to hit me
belligerent denials ensued
and he refused to stop and exchange details

fortunately the Malvern Police shop is nearby
and now the driver of bus WKK981
has some explaining to do . . .

even more fortunate was the presence of a young cyclist
who was travelling behind me
and was prepared to act as a witness

back of my hand is still a little sore
but heart rate is returning to normal
after a long hot shower
and the application of a couple of glasses of
a quality red


~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*) . . . BJBEAR chasing the STA bus


--
a friendly growl from the bear on the Zephyr that roars

__ __ __ _ __
/__/ / /__/ /_ /_\ /_ /
/_ / _ / /__/ /__ / \ / \ ....Kawasaki Zephyr

barry j taylor < [email protected] >
Ulysses #25871: netrider #549
Skype: ursus_australis

 

[Michael Warner]

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:11:17 +0930, barry taylor wrote:

> fortunately the Malvern Police shop is nearby
> and now the driver of bus WKK981
> has some explaining to do . . .

Sorry to hear about that. We certainly do encounter some
dangerous bus drivers here sometimes, although most are
ok. I've reported a few over the years. I'm baffled as to why
people who drive for a living would endanger their jobs so
stupidly, never mind risk killing someone.

Apart from their width and need to constantly stop, the
trouble with buses is that they're often inaudible until they're
right alongside, thanks to the rear-mounted engines. OTOH,
they can be very handy for drafting

PS I'm pretty sure that refusing to give you his ID number is
a serious offence in its own right.

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:14:58 +0930
Michael Warner <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:11:17 +0930, barry taylor wrote:
>
>> fortunately the Malvern Police shop is nearby
>> and now the driver of bus WKK981
>> has some explaining to do . . .
>
> Sorry to hear about that. We certainly do encounter some
> dangerous bus drivers here sometimes, although most are
> ok. I've reported a few over the years. I'm baffled as to why
> people who drive for a living would endanger their jobs so
> stupidly, never mind risk killing someone.
>

These days, bus drivers are people who can't get other jobs... The
schedules suck, the working conditions ditto and in Sydney the work
culture is toxic.

Hence the ads begging people to be bus drivers. And the high
turnover.

Zebee

 

[Theo Bekkers]

Zebee Johnstone wrote:

> Hence the ads begging people to be bus drivers. And the high
> turnover.

They have signs on the backs of buses in Perth. "Would you like to drive
this bus" Phone xxxx xxxx for application.

Theo