7 May 2013

TrAction Buses?

| Blen_Carmichael
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On an otherwise mundane Monday, I witnessed an impressive near-miss on Alinga St, Civic, as my bus approached.

Being wary of the bus’s passenger side extended mirror, I stand back a good metre or so from the kerb until the bus stops. Not so this middle-aged man preoccupied with talking on his mobile. He continued his conservation as the bus moved closer to the kerb, his scone directly in line with the fast-approaching side mirror.

I reckon he had about half a second to spare when he finally clicked and stepped back. The bus was doing probably 10-15km/h as the mirror passed by him – enough to do him serious damage had it hit him. Certainly enough to knock him senseless.

It seems the design of these mirror placements places far too much emphasis on pedestrians’ self-awareness. I doubt the driver’s angle of vision assists much in these cases.

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MrMagoo said :

I believe that’s why most bus stops are marked with a tiled area 1 metre from the curb to stop such things from occuring. Just saying.

You would be wrong. The tiles are for vision impaired people so they know where the bus doors are. If you look at our stops the tiles run 90′ to the kurb whereas say Sydney train stations the run parallel to indicate where to stand behind.

Instant Mash6:46 pm 07 May 13

Maybe it’s just me, but I tend not to stand right by the edge of the road when a bus is approaching. I also pay attention.

I’m conscious of this problem as a fairly tall fella. They look pretty flimsy though, I don’t think it’d be quite that bad to be beaned with one, as long as you weren’t clocked while the bus was going full speed.

I got tapped by a bus’s right hand mirror at the Clunies Ross lights on Barrie Drive.
I was on the left edge of the left most normal traffic lane, 100% legal.
The “no bicycles” sign applies to the bus lane, NOT to the road, easily misunderstood.

This was before the overengineered shared path, I regrettfully use that now.

I believe that’s why most bus stops are marked with a tiled area 1 metre from the curb to stop such things from occuring. Just saying.

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