Abellio London employs dim-witted selfish aggressive idiots to drive their busses

[TwickenhamCyclist]

Abellio London employs dim-witted selfish aggressive idiots to drive their busses

It was the children’s school sports day last Friday – Teachers and parents walked the whole infant school to the local secondary to use their big field for the event. All great until crossing the main “A” road on the way home:

The teachers were using the light controlled ped crossing to take one class over at a time. So, as I crossed with the class I was helping the teacher stood in the middle of the crossing to see her class across – lights still red for the traffic and green for the peds and the lead vehicle – a London bus – starts edging forward in anticipation of the lights changing – and with children still on the crossing (they are little and move slowly) and the teacher still in the middle with her hand up, mr bus driver starts jerking the bus towards the kids as the lights change to flashing amber, beeping the horn and shouting obscenities at the teacher… obvious for all to see that it’s a class of children crossing the road and you might be held up for a few seconds – but FFS – “professional driver” my arse, where the f*** to Abellio London recruit their Neanderthal f**kwit drivers from? These are the same ediots that drove into the back of my bike and then claimed it was my fault because I “was on the road”.

Rant sent to TfL

 

[BentMikey]

That's just nasty. Here's my own Abellio experience from last autumn:

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aharVhUCWA

 

[gaz]

Amber and green means move through the junction if clear and safe to do so.
If people are crossing, be them adults or children then you should wait patiently.
To do it to a class of small kids and in a manor you describe is bullying behaviour.

 

[brockers]

All I can add is that a few years ago, I trained to get my HGV (LGV class II) licence, and my instructor wouldn't stop banging on about how bus companies recruit anybody over eighteen, which in his opinion was too young to have that amount of responsibility. Also, a lot (if not all) bus training is free, so these idiots get the training, but their gameplan is to work for the company for six months and then piss off to more cushy large vehicle driving jobs.

 

[Lurker]

Amber and green means move through the junction if clear and safe to do so.
If people are crossing, be them adults or children then you should wait patiently.
To do it to a class of small kids and in a manor you describe is bullying behaviour.

err no... Amber means STOP, whether it appears in combination with red or on its own. Green means you may proceed with caution if safe to do so.

Agree about the bullying behaviour.

 

[vickster]

Obviously the bus driver was a k*** but IIRC flashing amber on a pelican crossing does mean you can proceed with caution if the crossing is clear (196) ... which it most blatantly wasn't in this case

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070339

Stop if a solid yellow on 'junction' traffic lights

 

[400bhp]

This is an easy one isn't it?

A letter from the school to the bus company surely?

 

[gaz]

err no... Amber means STOP, whether it appears in combination with red or on its own. Green means you may proceed with caution if safe to do so.

Agree about the bullying behaviour.

My mistake. Do you know the rules for flashing Amber pedestrian crossings?

 

[vickster]

It would appear not ... rule 196

 

[gaz]

It would appear not ... rule 196

So I wasn't crazy, just not specific enough.

 

[Camgreen]

Even if the sequence of lights had actually turned to green, you'd think that the driver could employ patience, common-sense and professional courtesy, given the pedestrians in question were vulnerable little people.

 

[Lurker]

Apologies. A nuance about 'flashing amber on a pelican crossing' that had escaped me. Thanks for pointing out rule 196. So legally it seems that whether the driver was permitted to move or not depends on whether there were pedestrians crossing. (Morally, he should have waited patiently, of course). Anyway, here's what it says: 196 Signal-controlled crossings Pelican crossings. These are signal-controlled crossings where flashing amber follows the red ‘Stop’ light. You MUST stop when the red light shows. When the amber light is flashing, you MUST give way to any pedestrians on the crossing. If the amber light is flashing and there are no pedestrians on the crossing, you may proceed with caution. [Laws ZPPPCRGD regs 23 & 26 & RTRA sect 25(5)] Allow pedestrians to cross when the amber light is flashing http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070339 Back to the generality: Amber also means stop, at traffic lights (hence the old 'Don't be an Amber Gambler' campaign). As in the case of this bus driver in this situation, many drivers have reinterpreted 'amber' - in any situation - to mean 'go'.

 

[Pisquee]

Even if the lights had gone back to their green phase, the driver still has to wait until the crossing is clear, as part of the proceed with caution bit.

 

[gaz]

Even if it's green you should a. Proceed with caution b. Stop/wait for pedestrians.

 

[downfader]

Abellio London employs dim-witted selfish aggressive idiots to drive their busses

It was the children’s school sports day last Friday – Teachers and parents walked the whole infant school to the local secondary to use their big field for the event. All great until crossing the main “A” road on the way home:

The teachers were using the light controlled ped crossing to take one class over at a time. So, as I crossed with the class I was helping the teacher stood in the middle of the crossing to see her class across – lights still red for the traffic and green for the peds and the lead vehicle – a London bus – starts edging forward in anticipation of the lights changing – and with children still on the crossing (they are little and move slowly) and the teacher still in the middle with her hand up, mr bus driver starts jerking the bus towards the kids as the lights change to flashing amber, beeping the horn and shouting obscenities at the teacher… obvious for all to see that it’s a class of children crossing the road and you might be held up for a few seconds – but FFS – “professional driver” my arse, where the f*** to Abellio London recruit their Neanderthal f**kwit drivers from? These are the same ediots that drove into the back of my bike and then claimed it was my fault because I “was on the road”.

Rant sent to TfL

If they haven't already done so - get the school to make an official complaint also!