There are many things about driving my daily route that irk me, and they have everything to do with the poor driving practices of other motorists. Everything from being in a hurry – or a bad mood! – to exercising poor judgement, lack of commitment, under-confidence, and the worst one of all, “driver error”, I’ve seen it all from the elevated seat position of my bus. Here are a few Do’s and Don’t's for those motorists out there who haven’t a clue!
SAFETY: The main concern I have on my route, since I operate a Wheelchair Access mini bus, is safety. I also need an adequate amount of room to maneuver the bus to the curb in order to a) properly operate, and b) safely lower, the chair lift located on the right hand side of the bus towards the back. I need clearance, people!!!
DON’T PARK IN THE DESIGNATED AREAS: I really hope some regular motorists are reading this and will think twice before the next time that they: park in the clearly marked Handicapped Boarding and Unboarding Area that is reserved for my bus. They think they can get away with parking here by keeping their vehicle running and remaining in the vehicle. You could save yourself some hassle by parking in the appropriate area for you, because now I have to double park beside you, hold up traffice, get out of my bus, walk around my bus, get you to roll down your window and then tell you to move. By the way, I never “ask” people to do anything they should know better about. You know better than to park there, so I am not “asking’ you to please move. I am telling you to move. Or else. What a hassle for me to get into my own designated area. Thanks for that, I really appreciate it. Every day a light green CRV parks in my area and every flippin day I have to ask HER to move – YES, you know who you are!
DON’T PULL OUT IN FRONT OF A BUS: What about a 2-ton, double axel vehicle made out of steel makes you think we are moving slowly??? My axels and brakes are more powerful than yours and my engine is powerful enough to pull a tractor out of his own ditch, so what makes you think you can out-maneuver me? I don’t know why other motorists think we are moving slowly. We are a small building hurtling down the roadway. If we were to collide to a regular motorist’s vehicle, it would be like the vehicle hit a wall. The bus is made out of steel: it’s not going to move.
DO ALLOW BUSSES TO CLEAR THE INTERSECTIONS: We know your day is busy and important. But if you think about the relatively longer amount of time your county’s school busses are going to be on the road (approx. between 1 and 2 hours), then please allow the drivers to do their job and transport their precious cargo home in a timely manner. Many times I watch inconsiderate motorists cut off busses by advancing into intersections, effectively cutting us off when it is clearly our turn to go.
LOOK FOR BUSSES AS WELL AS CARS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET: Oddly, this happens to me the most right in front of the Catholic High School, Holy Trinity. The students are either so anxious to get home or pre-occupied with friends and hand-held gadgets that they don’t even glance at any of the oncoming traffic. If they do, they proceed anyway, so maybe they think a bus can automatically stop better than other vehicles. Well, I’m writing this today to let you know that we can’t.
WAVING AT BUS DRIVERS: It is sometimes a common practice for one motorist to wave another motorist through a 4-way stop intersection. If a motorist waves at me, I am more than willing to proceed, and Thank You. However, we are operating what is technically a commercial vehicle, and have a little more social responsibility than the regular motorist. So if you are at an intersection and would like to know why the bus driver did not wave you through it is because that would make us responsible in the event of an accident. It is ultimately the responsibility of each individual vehicle’s driver to determine if their roadway is safe to continue. Similarly, we never wave at police cars either. A law enforcement officer could interpret that friendly little wave as a hail for help and pull us over.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HITCH-HIKE A RIDE WITH A BUS: First of all, it’s illegal in Ontario, secondly we driver’s do not have the right to possibly endanger the safety of our riders. Third of all, we are also a commercial vehicle, which is that we have been “hired” by a “client” to perform a service, namely transport riders to a specific destination. Strangers heretofor referred to as hitch-hikers do not have permission to board the bus, and have not paid for the “service.” Laugh if you want to, but twice now since September a man has tried to chase down my bus for a ride, with his thumb in the air. The one guy yelled at my tail-lights, “Oh come on now, I just wanna ride!” Creepy.
SHARE THE ROAD: Hey man, pick a lane. I know those yellow dashes are “guidelines only”, but you are crowding me over towards the sidewalk, and/or preventing me from turning a) left, b) right, c) all of the above.
DON’T WORRY IF I HONK AT YOU: You might be about to open your driver side door without looking to see if a bus or other cars are coming. I am just making you aware of my presence on the street. You might be edging out of a side street into my path and you either haven’t checked my way or habitually pull out into the street at this spot. Once again, if a bus honks at you they are just saying, “Hey, look at me, here I come….” And then last week I honked about 17 times at a surprise landing of big ducks right on the highway infront of me. I had to safely herd them off to one side.
DO REPORT BUSSES YOU SEE SPEEDING, SWERVING, DRIVERS TEXTING, ETC: Our boss needs to know. Go ahead and call the office of the bus company once you get home or have a passenger in your car do it. Using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle is prohibited in Ontario, and a finable offense. Try to get the bus number if you can, note the street name or highway and closest intersection. The lisence plate number is not as important. Currently there is a bus parking daily in the couresty parking spaces of the LCBO in Simcoe. Does that look bad or what? Excuse me, I need to go make a call!
I just added an example of the signs that most schools in Ontario post to indicate the designated bus loading area. The sign is not in red lettering, and is a courtesy warning only, so I have read.