To the stupid road rager that forced the bus off the road on the corner of Barrington and Duke at rush hour: I don’t care who cut who off, YOU put everyone on the bus in danger by driving like a lunatic in order to make the bus pull over. You also almost ran over a security guard that came to help. You then pissed off 20 people by getting the police involved forcing us to leave the bus when we all just wanted to go home. You should have your licence revoked and you should be fined or jailed for the danger you caused!
—Angry bus rider
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2009.
ooo….more details please?
Wow! I’d be pretty pissed too, if I were on that bus. I hope someone got a licence number.
Probably an out of province driver. New Brunswick, by any chance? I’d be angry if I had to live there, too.
In some cities, buses have right of way when pulling out of a stop and back onto the road, meaning cars must stop and wait for the bus. While I don’t think this is officially the case here in HRM, most people are generally pretty courteous to buses anyway.
side note…wow qpmzprejudicemuch, that’s the second post of yours in as many days blaming all bad drivers on CFA’s. Do you not think that NS drivers are capable of incompetence? I find it interesting that most of my CFA friends in HRM have all commented on how NS drivers are the worst they have ever encountered. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
I’m not blaming ALL bad drivers on CFA’s, it just seems like a good majority of them are. Of course there are bad drivers everywhere, but in general I have found Nova Scotia drivers to be some of the most courteous, best drivers I have ever seen of anywhere I’ve been, while oftentimes when I check the plate of the person speeding, tailgating, or who just cut me off, it’s a CFA. Our biggest problem here I think is maybe being a bit too nice, like stopping for jaywalkers or letting people into traffic when we technically shouldn’t. New Brunswick and PEI drivers are horrible! Even people from there will tell you that.
Anyway, sorry for the tangent, officially back on topic… now. Does anyone know if drivers are legally required to give public transit buses right of way when merging back into traffic?
NS drivers are seen as bad by CFA’s because we drive differently than they do. NS drivers complain about Ontario and Quebec drivers when they are visiting there. That’s not to say that Nova Scotians don’t have some bad habit too though. We do. Like signaling as we turn rather than before when it would have been useful.
Yeah! And your children should be pooped on!
yea poop…..poop mouth
It is not legally necessary to yield to a bus here (although it should be). Seriously though, driver entitlement is a big problem with drivers around here. A lot of drivers feel there right of way is the only way.
Just like BRoc said re. buses getting back into traffic, no you don’t have to yield to them but it certainly makes traffic go smoother if you show some courtesy.
What gets me is seeing drivers who have to get past the Link or MetroX buses knowing full well they make very few stops along the way. Best part is watching the bus pass the same vehicles at the transit priority lanes/lights. But even when I’m driving a chartered motorcoach I get morons who pass me then cut right in front of me. No concept that a bus simply can’t stop on a dime at 50kms or 110kms.
As for transit yield legislation in most jurisdictions, it’s still the responsability of the bus driver to make sure it’s clear before cutting back into the lane of travel from a curb. The safe operation of the bus will always be the driver’s responsability.
Be careful about accusing CFAs as violators, especially with NB plates. A majority of car rental companies register their vehicles in NB. Just check a few places and you’ll know what I mean.