Insane MTA Bus Drivers
I've seen MTA busses do all kind of weird and crazy stuff. driving through a red signal is probably most common. Bicyclists all over town have long been complaining about being "invisible" on the road, and to MTA busses in particular. Well, now I know why, as I got to experience it first hand. Around 12:30 PM today, I was purposefully driven of the road by a New York City MTA bus. Thank goodness I am OK, but it could have gone very wrong. Very, very wrong. Here's what happened:
As I approached the traffic light at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope, the light was red. First "in line" were two cars, followed by a van in he left lane and a bus in the right lane. I made my way to the front, and when the light changed I was crossing Flatbush toward Atlantic Avenue, where the Atlantic mall is. This block has a bus stop in the middle of it, just before the U-Haul parking lot. As I approached the bus stop, I heard the bus behind me honking its horn, then pulling up alongside of me, to my left, and veering into the bus stop aera that we were approaching. The driver knew I was there, absolutely saw me, but chose to cut me off to pull into his stop. I had to hit the brakes abruptly, and was squeezed into the sidewalk. I was fine, because of a quick reaction. I pulled up around the bus to talk to the bus driver (although I felt like doing something other than talking), trying to remain calm. "Why did you do that?" I asked. "You were in my way, I couldn't get to my stop. You should have gone onto the sidewalk!" he replied. "I can't go on the sidewalk, that's illegal!" I said, flabbergasted. "Yeah well, I wanted to show you you were in the bus stop. You know you can't ride in a bus stop, what was I supposed to do?" was his reply. "But the bus stop is on the road!" I went on. "You are supposed to wait untitil I pass it, then you pull in! That's the rule!" I said. "Oh you know the rules, huh?" he scuffed. Yes, I do know the rules. I'm a friggin' rule maniac. I wrote down the bus number and went on my way, trembling with anger. Where do these guys learn to drive? On the Internet?
As I approached the traffic light at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope, the light was red. First "in line" were two cars, followed by a van in he left lane and a bus in the right lane. I made my way to the front, and when the light changed I was crossing Flatbush toward Atlantic Avenue, where the Atlantic mall is. This block has a bus stop in the middle of it, just before the U-Haul parking lot. As I approached the bus stop, I heard the bus behind me honking its horn, then pulling up alongside of me, to my left, and veering into the bus stop aera that we were approaching. The driver knew I was there, absolutely saw me, but chose to cut me off to pull into his stop. I had to hit the brakes abruptly, and was squeezed into the sidewalk. I was fine, because of a quick reaction. I pulled up around the bus to talk to the bus driver (although I felt like doing something other than talking), trying to remain calm. "Why did you do that?" I asked. "You were in my way, I couldn't get to my stop. You should have gone onto the sidewalk!" he replied. "I can't go on the sidewalk, that's illegal!" I said, flabbergasted. "Yeah well, I wanted to show you you were in the bus stop. You know you can't ride in a bus stop, what was I supposed to do?" was his reply. "But the bus stop is on the road!" I went on. "You are supposed to wait untitil I pass it, then you pull in! That's the rule!" I said. "Oh you know the rules, huh?" he scuffed. Yes, I do know the rules. I'm a friggin' rule maniac. I wrote down the bus number and went on my way, trembling with anger. Where do these guys learn to drive? On the Internet?
posted by BvP at 5/24/2006 10:12:00 PM
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