Letter to ACTION Buses. After two near misses in the space of one hour.

yoyoyo said :

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

I like the part where you point out you just stepped off a ‘multimillion dollar residential development’ like it has something to do with anything.

“Do you think it will hurt if I step in front of a moving bus?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Look, no offence, but I think I’ll get a second opinion from somebody who works on a multimillion dollar residential development.”

OP here, Just putting my job experieince in context. Big construction site versus cushy office environment does affect ones awareness. so yes my opinion should matter before you find a brick on your head.

Oh thanks for that, By the way, have you finished that pergola yet?

TheBusDriver said :

I understand thyat yoiu have impled we bus drivers do secretly want to run you all over, lose our jobs and our livelyhood. Quite clearly you are a perfect driver capable of stopping a 10-21 tonne bus on a penny, of avoiding cars that turn at random without indicating and of avoiding pedestrians like yourself that ignore road rules and step out onto the road at random. I suggest you apply for your medium rigid driver’s licence, and when you finally pass, that you get behind the wheel of such a bus and see how far you get before you hit something or some one. Oh, and I want to see those penny stops that you seem to think we’re all capable of, because yes, if you insist it can be done, you must be capable of doing it yourself right?
Now I’m just a humble bus driver who’s never had a complaint, and who has only ever had two acidents in many years, neither of which were my fault (I wasn’t even in the parked bus for one of them) so yeah, what would I know?

If a bus needs to stop on a penny then quite clearly the driver is not leaving a safe distance, or in the case of pedestrians in areas like the City interchange paying attention to the surroundings and driving to the conditions (though yes many car drivers are guilty of this, especially in the 40km/h bits the government has now created in Civic and elsewhere)

Now as you are not an Action driver, you won’t be offended when I say this is something many drivers working for Action are guilty of, especially when they try to overtake heading into a merge, then have the gall to come onto boards like this and say you should have given way to them. A good case in point for this behaviour is Barry Drive Belconnen bound near the ANU. If I had a dollar for every bus that has come from behind, going overtaken then need to brake because the traffic past the merge is going slow I would be rich. The way to merge of course is to judge the speed of the traffic past the merge, adjust your speed on approach to match and attempt to zipper merge with traffic in other lanes. Now yeah know some will disagree, though those that do are generally what causes the traffic to be so slow past the merge, because they speed on through then have to brake heavily, which then creates the elestic band effect, rather than approach at the speed people are doing beyond the merge.

Anyway end rant.

TheBusDriver said :

JC said :

You weren’t driving bus 909 this morning were you. God I hope so, if so consider yourself reported…

You wen’t being a right asshole today were you? I guess you were. If so, consider yourself to be reported.

See the attitude you just showed me is exactly what the other posters are on about. Someone with an attitude like yours is really unfit to be driving a public bus.

Oh I wasn’t joking about reporting the driver of bus 909 (quite funny too your reply was posted at 9:09), sent the complaint this afternoon. The moron driving that bus this morning at 8am came within about 1m of cleaning up the car in front of me, with an overtaking manoeuvre on Northborne Ave that would have been impressive in a sports car, but dam scary to see it being done by an Action bus. About half a flash of indicator and over to the middle lane right in the middle of the intersection with Macarthur Ave, and as I said just missing the car in front of me my a metre and causing him to brake heavily to avoid hitting him and me to avoid hitting the car in front of me.

The reason as mentioned was to overtake a bus at the next stop. I bus might I add who had his indicator on to start moving, something I could see from 100m in a var, so now Mr 909 had to speed up to overtake as he needed to stop at the next stop. Now I believe somewhere in the rules it does mention if changing lanes you can only do if it is safe to do so, it certainly wasn’t safe what he did. I also think, but don’t quote me on this your not meant to change lanes in an intersection too. As for the passengers I bet they were hanging on for dear life.

JC said :

You weren’t driving bus 909 this morning were you. God I hope so, if so consider yourself reported…

You wen’t being a right asshole today were you? I guess you were. If so, consider yourself to be reported.

I am so glad that I don’t work for Action busses because it means I can write this;
Dear Yoyoyo. I feel great pain for your recent brush with buses. It was wonderful to observe that in your many road crossings, some of which I assume must have been illegal such as the second one you mention, that you have only been almost run over twice. I think that is an excellent track record for Canberra considering the high number of people who step out on the roads compleatly at random,especially around the Civic Interchange.
I understand thyat yoiu have impled we bus drivers do secretly want to run you all over, lose our jobs and our livelyhood. Quite clearly you are a perfect driver capable of stopping a 10-21 tonne bus on a penny, of avoiding cars that turn at random without indicating and of avoiding pedestrians like yourself that ignore road rules and step out onto the road at random. I suggest you apply for your medium rigid driver’s licence, and when you finally pass, that you get behind the wheel of such a bus and see how far you get before you hit something or some one. Oh, and I want to see those penny stops that you seem to think we’re all capable of, because yes, if you insist it can be done, you must be capable of doing it yourself right?
Now I’m just a humble bus driver who’s never had a complaint, and who has only ever had two acidents in many years, neither of which were my fault (I wasn’t even in the parked bus for one of them) so yeah, what would I know?

Paul0075 said :

Bus drivers are human and therefore prone to error, as we all are.

You’re confusing error, with mistake. A mistake is unintentional, an error can be intentional, and for many bus drivers their errors are very intentional. One articulated bus blasted through a roundabout in Tuggeranong, forcing two lanes of traffic to stop on the round about and almost tail ending the vehicle in front of him (who barely had time to go, so the bus definitely shouldn’t have).
I tailed the bus to the exchange, he arrived at 4.45, right on time according to the schedule for his route number. Not hard to see why he was taking such risks.

Bussie said :

Have someone read my post slowly to you and maybe you’ll understand what I was saying. The f off would be to someone demanding my name. I’m not required to tell people and I sure as hell wouldn’t.

You weren’t driving bus 909 this morning were you. God I hope so, if so consider yourself reported…

ML-585 said :

yoyoyo said :

Pedestrians by law have right of way on all streets even if jaywalking. Drivers in general don’t seem to know that and think they have the moral high ground. Which leads to false comments as quoted above.

Do they? As JC has pointed out, the rules applying to turning at traffic lights state that a driver must give way to pedestrians on the road being turned into, but there is no requirement to give way to pedestrians if you are not turning. (Quite often an impatient pedestrian runs across a red light just as the oncoming traffic gets a green light.)

However Rule 232 states that pedestrians MUST NOT start to cross until the pedestrian lights change to green. Therefore in my opinion*, the give way to pedestrians rule only applies where said pedestrian has crossed the road legally (with a green light). I don’t give way to pedestrians who cross at a red light. Same as I don’t give way to cyclists riding across a pedestrian crossing. Consider this a warning.

(* opinion not supported by any actual research or legal ruling.)

Half right, just because someone else has done something wrong, doesn’t mean you can run them over. Case in point is the OP’s 2nd complain. Whilst it is true he was doing something wrong, specifically crossing the road against a red, when the lights for the bus went green the bus driver did not have the right to move. As green means go if it is safe to do so. Clearly someone in front of the bus is not a safe situation, so the bus had no right to move.

Also a reminder for about the 3rd time, the rules about a vehicle turning having to give way to pedestrians ALSO apply to intersections controlled by stop signs and giveway signs. Rule 232 only applies to the pedestrian at intersections controlled by lights. So basically if you a pedestrian crossing at lights you should only cross when green, but no lights you can cross but need to give way to vehicles who are not turning, but any turning vehicle must give way to you. Now buggered if I am going to ‘force’ this rule if I am out walking, because I know what will happen. Same too with roundabouts, whilst the law is giveway to anyone already on the roundabout if a vehicle is approaching me fast from my right and not already on I will be giving way to them even though I don’t have to, becuase I know that 99% of drivers won’t be giving way to me even if I am first on. End result crash.

Bussie said :

Have someone read my post slowly to you and maybe you’ll understand what I was saying. The f off would be to someone demanding my name. I’m not required to tell people and I sure as hell wouldn’t.

I did read your post and you quite clearly said that you would tell a member of the public to “f*** off”.

Seriously, it is that clear.

I wonder if ACTION are taking note?

****ing Hell Thumper, get the **** over it for ****’s sake.

DrKoresh said :

Speaking of, so the plod picked-up a Harrison man in relation to the hit’n’run last week or whenever, has there been any developments since then?

Aside from this not yet

http://the-riotact.com/harrison-man-summonsed-over-braddon-hit-and-run/112899

Honestly, Bussie, the impression you’re giving me here is that you:

A) Have sub-par people skills. Especially for a Government bus driver who deals with the public constantly.

And B) You lack accountability. If a bus driver had concerned me enough to need to ask for their details, I’d certainly ask for their name. And if I instead copped some of your ‘F off’ attitude, I’d be making damn certain you don’t stick around in that job for much longer.

People expect a certain level of decorum. If you can’t keep up, go work in a kitchen or a construction site, away from the public.

Bussie said :

Bussie said :

magiccar9 said :

Sure, perhaps the OP got a little excited in his describing words, but it sounds entirely like something their drivers would do. If it was so close to the interchange I would have followed him up to his stop and asked for his name, staff ID, and licence number.

If you did that to me I’d tell you to f*** off. If you want to complain about an ACTION driver the bus number and time of the alleged incident is enough for them to be identified. I’m sure as hell not giving my name to random angry people.

So, let me get this straight.

If a concerned member of the public comes up to you to query something you have done while driving a government bus, rather than speak like a rational, preofessional employed in a government job, you would tell them to “f*** off”?

Fantastic attitude there and if this is the norm then I suspect this needs to be addressed by ACTION.

Have someone read my post slowly to you and maybe you’ll understand what I was saying. The f off would be to someone demanding my name. I’m not required to tell people and I sure as hell wouldn’t.

I did read your post and you quite clearly said that you would tell a member of the public to “f*** off”.

Seriously, it is that clear.

I wonder if ACTION are taking note?

Telling someone to fk off when they want to make a complaint isn’t a professional approach by any stretch of the imagination, and might result in a sacking depending on circumstances.

On the other hand, in this day and age of one-sided vitriolic attempts at public humiliation on the interwebz, which Rioters are well-acquainted with, I would agree with Bussie that anyone demanding personal details to be handed over should expect a curt ‘no’. Bus details and time should be sufficient for the company to identify the offender.

ML-585 said :

Do they? As JC has pointed out, the rules applying to turning at traffic lights state that a driver must give way to pedestrians on the road being turned into, but there is no requirement to give way to pedestrians if you are not turning. (Quite often an impatient pedestrian runs across a red light just as the oncoming traffic gets a green light.)

However Rule 232 states that pedestrians MUST NOT start to cross until the pedestrian lights change to green. Therefore in my opinion*, the give way to pedestrians rule only applies where said pedestrian has crossed the road legally (with a green light). I don’t give way to pedestrians who cross at a red light. Same as I don’t give way to cyclists riding across a pedestrian crossing. Consider this a warning.

(* opinion not supported by any actual research or legal ruling.)

Good luck with that,

yoyoyo said :

At the end of the day, if you run over a pedestrian, no matter who has legal right of way, the police will investigate and if they find that you had plenty of time to avoid hitting the pedestrian you will get charges laid against you. I’m refering as an example to the white ute that ran those asian guys on mort street braddon a couple months ago who were walking on the side of the road.

That was a hit and run, if you’re referring to the incident I think you are. From the video it looked like the ute driver went out of his way to hit those kids.

Speaking of, so the plod picked-up a Harrison man in relation to the hit’n’run last week or whenever, has there been any developments since then?

yoyoyo said :

Pedestrians by law have right of way on all streets even if jaywalking. Drivers in general don’t seem to know that and think they have the moral high ground. Which leads to false comments as quoted above.

Even if what you say is true, I think a driver behaving lawfully would be correct to claim the moral high ground over a jaywalking pedestrian. Legal and moral aren’t the same thing.

Bussie said :

magiccar9 said :

Sure, perhaps the OP got a little excited in his describing words, but it sounds entirely like something their drivers would do. If it was so close to the interchange I would have followed him up to his stop and asked for his name, staff ID, and licence number.

If you did that to me I’d tell you to f*** off. If you want to complain about an ACTION driver the bus number and time of the alleged incident is enough for them to be identified. I’m sure as hell not giving my name to random angry people.

So, let me get this straight.

If a concerned member of the public comes up to you to query something you have done while driving a government bus, rather than speak like a rational, preofessional employed in a government job, you would tell them to “f*** off”?

Fantastic attitude there and if this is the norm then I suspect this needs to be addressed by ACTION.

Have someone read my post slowly to you and maybe you’ll understand what I was saying. The f off would be to someone demanding my name. I’m not required to tell people and I sure as hell wouldn’t.

At the end of the day, if you run over a pedestrian, no matter who has legal right of way, the police will investigate and if they find that you had plenty of time to avoid hitting the pedestrian you will get charges laid against you. I’m refering as an example to the white ute that ran those asian guys on mort street braddon a couple months ago who were walking on the side of the road.

yoyoyo said :

Pedestrians by law have right of way on all streets even if jaywalking. Drivers in general don’t seem to know that and think they have the moral high ground. Which leads to false comments as quoted above.

Do they? As JC has pointed out, the rules applying to turning at traffic lights state that a driver must give way to pedestrians on the road being turned into, but there is no requirement to give way to pedestrians if you are not turning. (Quite often an impatient pedestrian runs across a red light just as the oncoming traffic gets a green light.)

However Rule 232 states that pedestrians MUST NOT start to cross until the pedestrian lights change to green. Therefore in my opinion*, the give way to pedestrians rule only applies where said pedestrian has crossed the road legally (with a green light). I don’t give way to pedestrians who cross at a red light. Same as I don’t give way to cyclists riding across a pedestrian crossing. Consider this a warning.

(* opinion not supported by any actual research or legal ruling.)

yoyoyo said :

Pedestrians by law have right of way on all streets even if jaywalking.

Wrong. As the road rules points out just because a rules requires one party to give way to another party this does not give the second party a “right of way”.

yoyoyo said :

Holden Caulfield said :

Let me get this straight.

You were jaywalking and when the bus got a green light and the driver didn’t want to give way to you, even though you didn’t have right of way, you decided to write in and complain?

Pedestrians by law have right of way on all streets even if jaywalking. Drivers in general don’t seem to know that and think they have the moral high ground. Which leads to false comments as quoted above.

If only common sense was written down in a rule book.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

I like the part where you point out you just stepped off a ‘multimillion dollar residential development’ like it has something to do with anything.

“Do you think it will hurt if I step in front of a moving bus?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Look, no offence, but I think I’ll get a second opinion from somebody who works on a multimillion dollar residential development.”

OP here, Just putting my job experieince in context. Big construction site versus cushy office environment does affect ones awareness. so yes my opinion should matter before you find a brick on your head.

Holden Caulfield said :

Let me get this straight.

You were jaywalking and when the bus got a green light and the driver didn’t want to give way to you, even though you didn’t have right of way, you decided to write in and complain?

Pedestrians by law have right of way on all streets even if jaywalking. Drivers in general don’t seem to know that and think they have the moral high ground. Which leads to false comments as quoted above.

Snave81 said :

When was Allara St connected to Northbourne Ave? Perhaps it would be better to use Alinga St to get to the bus station.

Yes you are correct it was Allinga street in this case.

Maybe the ACTION drivers are giving some pay back after having seen the way you drive around wearing your roadworks shirt in your ute?

Brianna said :

I have two friends who are very sight impaired. One with less than 10% vision and the other less than 5% vision remaining. .

Did they forget their dogs at home?

Aeek said :

Bussie said :

magiccar9 said :

Sure, perhaps the OP got a little excited in his describing words, but it sounds entirely like something their drivers would do. If it was so close to the interchange I would have followed him up to his stop and asked for his name, staff ID, and licence number.

If you did that to me I’d tell you to f*** off. If you want to complain about an ACTION driver the bus number and time of the alleged incident is enough for them to be identified. I’m sure as hell not giving my name to random angry people.

Memories of the bus driver on Barry Drive who decided to eliminate any chance of being on the left.
I chose to exercise my legal right to be on the right instead. Would never have considered it without the Action aggro

What does that have to do with anything I wrote?

Grail said :

It’s worth noting that the guy hesitated to cross in both instances. If you see a pedestrian start to cross, then change their mind and stop, what do you do? Will you wait in that painful game of “you first,” “no you first,” or do you seize the moment and drive through?

When the pedestrian then changes their mind a second time, after you have started turning, what do you do? In my small single-occupant vehicle it’s fine to jump on the brakes and simply swear at the idiot who can’t make up their mind whether they’re crossing or not. As a driver of a bus you have different priorities: can you stop the bus quickly without hurting more people on the bus than people in front of the bus?

This type of hesitation is also a cause for rear-end collisions: two cars waiting to enter a road, the front car starts to enter. Then they stop. Then they get rear-ended by the car behind them who thought that the first car had gone and was now watching for an opportunity to enter the traffic.

Not sure what you were reading, but in the first ‘incident’ the poster said “I was just about to cross the intersection in a southward direction toward the Sydney building when as my foot began to touch the asphalt of the road an ACTION bus began turning the corner off Northbourne into Allara and with out hesitation continued on its way narrowly missing me”. Now don’t know about you but if I saw a bus with no intention of stopping I wouldn’t be attempting to exercise my right of way by stepping onto the road.

In the 2nd case the guy was (yes wrongfuly) in front of the bus and the bus started to move when the lights went green. Yes fail on behalf of the OP, but fail on behalf of the bus because green means go when it is safe to do so. Having a pedestrian in front of you in my book means it is not safe to do so. So fail to the bus driver as well.

But to answer you question if a pedestrian hesitated I would be waiting. In the first case the pedestrian had absolute right of way, and just because you (meaning the driver not you personally) have intimidated them into hesitating doesn’t mean you now have the right of way.

Bussie said :

magiccar9 said :

Sure, perhaps the OP got a little excited in his describing words, but it sounds entirely like something their drivers would do. If it was so close to the interchange I would have followed him up to his stop and asked for his name, staff ID, and licence number.

If you did that to me I’d tell you to f*** off. If you want to complain about an ACTION driver the bus number and time of the alleged incident is enough for them to be identified. I’m sure as hell not giving my name to random angry people.

Ooo big man hey! I remember reading somewhere that then at least have to give a staff ID so records can show who was driving. Also makes it a lot easier when drivers must have their licence on display on the bus anyway. So basically I wouldn’t have to talk to them anyway, because frankly if they can’t comprehend road rules properly they probably couldn’t hold a structured conversation.

There may have been something in this that is worthy of consideration, but one look at that dense wall of text made my spider sense start to tingle. Then I noticed that the OP is a self described yoyo.

Should I squint hard and labour through all that verbiage, or should I go check out macrobusiness? No choice, really.

Bussie said :

magiccar9 said :

Sure, perhaps the OP got a little excited in his describing words, but it sounds entirely like something their drivers would do. If it was so close to the interchange I would have followed him up to his stop and asked for his name, staff ID, and licence number.

If you did that to me I’d tell you to f*** off. If you want to complain about an ACTION driver the bus number and time of the alleged incident is enough for them to be identified. I’m sure as hell not giving my name to random angry people.

Memories of the bus driver on Barry Drive who decided to eliminate any chance of being on the left.
I chose to exercise my legal right to be on the right instead. Would never have considered it without the Action aggro

I are glad you wrote to there bosses. With out this you do not know what else will happen and when it will? At least now you can arx them to explain why people need to keep there whits about them.

magiccar9 said :

Sure, perhaps the OP got a little excited in his describing words, but it sounds entirely like something their drivers would do. If it was so close to the interchange I would have followed him up to his stop and asked for his name, staff ID, and licence number.

If you did that to me I’d tell you to f*** off. If you want to complain about an ACTION driver the bus number and time of the alleged incident is enough for them to be identified. I’m sure as hell not giving my name to random angry people.

JC said :

Not just lights, the same wording you wrote is also in the rules for T intersections both with and without giveway/stop signs and also cross intersections again with and without giveway/stops signs.

So basically if turning you give way to pedestrians, the only exception it seems is at roundabouts where the pedestrian needs to give way.

That’s because trying to anticipate where a car will be exiting the roundabout is like a vehicular game of Russian Roulette.

It’s worth noting that the guy hesitated to cross in both instances. If you see a pedestrian start to cross, then change their mind and stop, what do you do? Will you wait in that painful game of “you first,” “no you first,” or do you seize the moment and drive through?

When the pedestrian then changes their mind a second time, after you have started turning, what do you do? In my small single-occupant vehicle it’s fine to jump on the brakes and simply swear at the idiot who can’t make up their mind whether they’re crossing or not. As a driver of a bus you have different priorities: can you stop the bus quickly without hurting more people on the bus than people in front of the bus?

This type of hesitation is also a cause for rear-end collisions: two cars waiting to enter a road, the front car starts to enter. Then they stop. Then they get rear-ended by the car behind them who thought that the first car had gone and was now watching for an opportunity to enter the traffic.

Grrrr said :

DrKoresh said :

It works because legally, a pedestrian has right of way to cross the road if they were crossing before a car turned onto the the road they were crossing.

That’s a bit misleading (there’s no “if”/”before” to it.) The pedestrian has right of way, yes, specifically because the road rules say:

“A driver turning at an intersection with traffic lights must give way to:
(a) any pedestrian at or near the intersection who is crossing the road the driver is entering;”

Not just lights, the same wording you wrote is also in the rules for T intersections both with and without giveway/stop signs and also cross intersections again with and without giveway/stops signs.

So basically if turning you give way to pedestrians, the only exception it seems is at roundabouts where the pedestrian needs to give way.

poetix said :

I don’t think this is real…’mad lust for pedestrian blood’? Someone’s having some fun.

You don’t think it’s real? Have you experienced the competency of ACTION drivers lately? The stories and accounts keep stacking up against them. And what does ACTION do to respond….. nothing! Only the other day I had yet another bus pull out in front of me at a roundabout – bringing me to a complete stop in the middle of it to wait for him.

Sure, perhaps the OP got a little excited in his describing words, but it sounds entirely like something their drivers would do. If it was so close to the interchange I would have followed him up to his stop and asked for his name, staff ID, and licence number.

I don’t think this is real…’mad lust for pedestrian blood’? Someone’s having some fun.

BimboGeek said :

OP is definitely not a good communicator. I’m reminded of 2nd year philosophy readings that were notoriously difficult to follow.

He belongs right here.

“and so keep your whits about you”

Awesome.

DrKoresh said :

It works because legally, a pedestrian has right of way to cross the road if they were crossing before a car turned onto the the road they were crossing.

That’s a bit misleading (there’s no “if”/”before” to it.) The pedestrian has right of way, yes, specifically because the road rules say:

“A driver turning at an intersection with traffic lights must give way to:
(a) any pedestrian at or near the intersection who is crossing the road the driver is entering;”

Paul0075 said :

Bus drivers are human and therefore prone to error, as we all are.

Error, like deliberately running a red light, seen on many occasions by rioters, now also myself just the other day at the Belconnen bus depot. It wasn’t a case of “didn’t have time to slow down”, more like “I’m so sick of red lights, this one isn’t stopping me.” Professional drivers should know better.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

You must give way to pedestrians in this case.

You must give way to pedestrians in ALL cases where the vehicle is turning across the path of the pedestrian!

DrKoresh said :

Yeah, it’s the same deal on Northbourne. It works because legally, a pedestrian has right of way to cross the road if they were crossing before a car turned onto the the road they were crossing. Not that many drivers seem to be aware of this rule, though I am doing my bit to spread awareness, one middle finger at a time.

Part right the wording of the law says vehicles turning must give way to “any pedestrian who is crossing the continuing road at or near the intersection.” As mentioned above this is rule 73 of the road rules.

Rule 73 covers T intersections without lights, stop or giveway signs, but there are separate rules with the same wording for those 3 too along with 4 way cross intersections. So basically any turning vehicle must give way to pedestrians be they on or about to cross (read near the intersection) the road.

Vehicles should also give way to pedestrians on foot paths too where a driveway cross the foot path. Don’t see much of that either, guess it comes back to the old thought that it is better to give way (as a pedestrian) even though you shouldn’t have to because the vehicle will do more damage to you than you will do to them.

voytek3 said :

The problem is that pedestrians in Canberra are generally morons. You sound like one of these.

OP is definitely not a good communicator. I’m reminded of 2nd year philosophy readings that were notoriously difficult to follow. I just wanted to edit that rambling crap.

che said :

Anyone else noticed the pedestrian signals that give a green light to cross the road and at same time give a green light to traffic moving in the same direction, with the traffic assuming they can turn left even though there are pedestrians walking across the road. The new lights at Anzac Parade and Constitution Ave are a good example.

These have been in civic for years.

You must give way to pedestrians in this case.

che said :

Anyone else noticed the pedestrian signals that give a green light to cross the road and at same time give a green light to traffic moving in the same direction, with the traffic assuming they can turn left even though there are pedestrians walking across the road. The new lights at Anzac Parade and Constitution Ave are a good example.

Yeah, it’s the same deal on Northbourne. It works because legally, a pedestrian has right of way to cross the road if they were crossing before a car turned onto the the road they were crossing. Not that many drivers seem to be aware of this rule, though I am doing my bit to spread awareness, one middle finger at a time.

I think there is some footage of the incidents in question:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJbzCHdy850

S***scared, or should I say ‘Shintoscared’…

Anyone else noticed the pedestrian signals that give a green light to cross the road and at same time give a green light to traffic moving in the same direction, with the traffic assuming they can turn left even though there are pedestrians walking across the road. The new lights at Anzac Parade and Constitution Ave are a good example.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

I like the part where you point out you just stepped off a ‘multimillion dollar residential development’ like it has something to do with anything.

“Do you think it will hurt if I step in front of a moving bus?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Look, no offence, but I think I’ll get a second opinion from somebody who works on a multimillion dollar residential development.”

Yes. The word “tosser” springs unbidden to mind.

It seems like that in order to become a action driver you need to pass a asshole test, blindness test and a incompetent driving tests.

I like the part where you point out you just stepped off a ‘multimillion dollar residential development’ like it has something to do with anything.

“Do you think it will hurt if I step in front of a moving bus?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Look, no offence, but I think I’ll get a second opinion from somebody who works on a multimillion dollar residential development.”

voytek3 said :

The problem is that pedestrians in Canberra are generally morons. You sound like one of these. Yesterday I watched a woman in Civic pushing a pram walk straight onto the road without even so much as glancing to see if there was any traffic coming. At the time there happened to be a bus about five metres away from turning onto that road and the driver had to slam on the brakes to avoid flattening this utter moron. All I could think was that it was a pity she’d pro created.

Whilst the lady was stupid for not looking, the bus on the other hand should have been slowing to give way to her anyway. Not many realise, but if turning onto a road pedestrians have right of way, even if there are no pedestrian lights. It is covered in many places in the rules but rule 72 para 3 a of the national road rules covers intersections without lights or a slip lane.

Spare a thought for the unfortunate elderly woman who whilst crossing Monaro St Queanbeyan was run over and dragged almost 20 metres by a cement truck yesterday at around 1pm. Apparently the driver of the cement truck had momentarily stopped in a line of traffic as another car was reverse parking and the woman attempted to weave her way between cars and was unsighted by the driver of the cement truck due to the long bonnet on the truck which restricted his vision. Terribly sad situation.

Not condoning OP’s actions, but I do agree with the low standard of driving set by Action drivers. Ever since they put that new roundabout at Charnwood shops, it seems to have become a game between them to see who can get through it fastest. I’ve seen four separate people fall over (luckily without injury) simply due to their overzealous driving. The fact that there is a bus stop directly after it makes it even worse because rather than slowing down earlier due to the roundabout, they just slam the brakes on straight after.

I guess I need to start recording this crap.

Bus drivers are human and therefore prone to error, as we all are.

These kinds of incidents are definitely not limited to ACTION buses, but also happen with bicycle riders, motorcyclists, truck and car drivers. Sometimes regardless of what colour you’re wearing you will not be seen.

Bus drivers rely on their driving skills for an income, the majority are not stupid and will not jeopardise their job because they want to put the wind up someone who is crossing the road.

Timetables are also drawn up with a bit of slack built in, in case the bus gets delayed, so there shouldn’t be any reason for the driver to be rushing beyond a speed limit to make up time. Most drivers wouldn’t be too worried anyway, because it would be unsafe for them to speeding in 15 tonnes of bus with passengers on board.

The problem is that pedestrians in Canberra are generally morons. You sound like one of these. Yesterday I watched a woman in Civic pushing a pram walk straight onto the road without even so much as glancing to see if there was any traffic coming. At the time there happened to be a bus about five metres away from turning onto that road and the driver had to slam on the brakes to avoid flattening this utter moron. All I could think was that it was a pity she’d pro created.

Uhhhh Allara St is nowhere near the Sydney Building or Northbourne Ave

Lets hope the OP does not discover bicycles and lycra

How Canberran

I assume you wrote a similar letter to ACT Police giving them your full name and address so they can send you tickets for breaching 231(1) and 236(2) of the Australian Road Rules.

Or do you believe that only bus drivers have to comply with the law, whereas you are exempt?

I have two friends who are very sight impaired. One with less than 10% vision and the other less than 5% vision remaining. Both had had problems with ACTION buses. One has been hit by an ACTION bus twice. Fortunately not injured badly. Not just a case of jaywalking……many ACTION drivers seem intent on maiming on a daily basis. Neither of my friends is frivolous with their walking and are very cautious.

http://i.imgur.com/BoflFhy.gif

I began to cross the intersection knowing that it was dangerous to do so, but ultimately relying on my own senses and awareness to get me across safely and not the pedestrian lights which had so dismally failed me earlier on

Danger danger Will Robinson..

When was Allara St connected to Northbourne Ave? Perhaps it would be better to use Alinga St to get to the bus station.

“Either way in my mind I was ready for the drivers intimidation and I just froze, pulled out my right hand, palm facing forward towards the driver in a gesture to halt the drivers mad lust for pedestrian blood.”

Can’t wait for the movie.

Holden Caulfield said :

Let me get this straight.

You were jaywalking and when the bus got a green light and the driver didn’t want to give way to you, even though you didn’t have right of way, you decided to write in and complain?

In the second case it would appear that way, but the first case the OP is 100% right, he had a green pedestrian walk light and any vehicle turning into his path has to give way.

That said in the 2nd case even though he was doing the wrong thing, green at lights doesn’t mean go. contrary to what many think. It means go if it is safe to do so. So even though the OP was doing the wrong thing, the bus should not have moved as it wasn’t safe to do so. An excuse of not being seen doesn’t really cut it in that are due to the high pedestrian activity the bus interchange has.

So yeah agree with him, just not his silly actions in the 2nd case.

Let me get this straight.

You were jaywalking and when the bus got a green light and the driver didn’t want to give way to you, even though you didn’t have right of way, you decided to write in and complain?