The Red and Black

Originally posted by

Charles

I wish I had seen this incident so I could judge for myself who is at fault here. Perhaps the student driver did not cause this accident, but the fact is that not one day goes by that I don't see an example of dangerous driving by a UGA student bus driver. About a year ago I was standing behind a UGA bus waiting for traffic to clear so I could cross the street. Another bus was abut a 30 yards away coming up behind that bus. As it approached the driver stayed at full speed until he was 5 yards from me and then proceded to 'bump' the breaks as he contnued to get closer and closer to me until I jumped back on the sidewalk to avoid being crushed. When his door opened I stepped in and said 'That was too close'. His reaction wasa to scream at me about not being at a crosswalk. This is no way to teach people that lesson. I see this technique everyday at the student center as impatient drivers 'bump' push their way through pedestrian crowds. We do not need students with their minds on a million things driving these buses. This is President Adams Legacy. Students teaching classes instead of professors an driving buses endangering the public.

In response to Charles's comment: Although student bus drivers do whip around corners sometimes or 'bump' their way through crowds, on the whole the way bus drivers are treated by students is inexcusable. Why are students crossing in front and behind buses without a sidewalk? Buses, in case we forget, are not the same as driving a car, although by the behavior of the majority of students, you'd think that most think they are. The question here is: since when did the lesson look twice in each direction before crossing the street need to be taught at a University instead of a preschool?

Originally posted by

Charles

I wish I had seen this incident so I could judge for myself who is at fault here. Perhaps the student driver did not cause this accident, but the fact is that not one day goes by that I don't see an example of dangerous driving by a UGA student bus driver. About a year ago I was standing behind a UGA bus waiting for traffic to clear so I could cross the street. Another bus was abut a 30 yards away coming up behind that bus. As it approached the driver stayed at full speed until he was 5 yards from me and then proceded to 'bump' the breaks as he contnued to get closer and closer to me until I jumped back on the sidewalk to avoid being crushed. When his door opened I stepped in and said 'That was too close'. His reaction wasa to scream at me about not being at a crosswalk. This is no way to teach people that lesson. I see this technique everyday at the student center as impatient drivers 'bump' push their way through pedestrian crowds. We do not need students with their minds on a million things driving these buses. This is President Adams Legacy. Students teaching classes instead of professors an driving buses endangering the public.

First off: it wasn't a student driver who hit that girl, it was one of our best and most respected FULL TIME DRIVERS. Secondly: it was HER FAULT she got hit!

We're taught as bus drivers to pull up as close as possible to the bus in front of us at stops to keep idiots like you from walking in between them and either getting crushed by a bus rolling back or creamed by a car that passes the buses and hits you because they can't see you.

And we HAVE to "bump" our way through pedestrians on campus (especially in hot zones like Tate) because once again, students only care about getting wherever they need to go and completely disregard traffic laws and cross streets illegally. If we didn't "bump" through them, buses would sit virtually still all day. We can't wait on EVERY person who decides to walk out in front of us (unless they are legally in a crosswalk).

I am so tired of having to post responses to questions and comments that so clearly lack simple common sense.

And just so you know, if Campus Transit didn't have student drivers, we'd only have about 15 drivers and you'd have one hell of a time getting to class.

Originally posted by

Charles

I wish I had seen this incident so I could judge for myself who is at fault here. Perhaps the student driver did not cause this accident, but the fact is that not one day goes by that I don't see an example of dangerous driving by a UGA student bus driver. About a year ago I was standing behind a UGA bus waiting for traffic to clear so I could cross the street. Another bus was abut a 30 yards away coming up behind that bus. As it approached the driver stayed at full speed until he was 5 yards from me and then proceded to 'bump' the breaks as he contnued to get closer and closer to me until I jumped back on the sidewalk to avoid being crushed. When his door opened I stepped in and said 'That was too close'. His reaction wasa to scream at me about not being at a crosswalk. This is no way to teach people that lesson. I see this technique everyday at the student center as impatient drivers 'bump' push their way through pedestrian crowds. We do not need students with their minds on a million things driving these buses. This is President Adams Legacy. Students teaching classes instead of professors an driving buses endangering the public.

Charles,
1. Ride a bus for 3 hours, I guarantee you will have a different opinion.
2. Our Student Drivers contribute to one of the largest and safest bus systems anywhere in the country. One of oour student drivers won the State Roadeo, the annual bus driving competition. He beat Full-time drivers from UGA, MARTA, and every other system in the State. He also placed in the top ten in the International Roadeo. We have another Student Driver with over 10,000 hours without an accident.
3. Drivers are not the problem people who are too stupid to get out of the way of a 40,000+ pound bus while preaching that they have the right of way are. Based on your statement I would include you in this category. Even on the odd chance you have the right of way look at the squish factor. Bus+you= flat you. I guarantee that you will be seriously injured and that bus will be on route if not immediately after clearing the accident, at least within 24 hours.
4. In my time at campus transit this is the first serious injury I have heard of. Accident's are rare and I know of an extremely small percentage where the driver is at fault. 99 times out of 100 it is the other party.
5. Finally don't give drivers a bad rap, we have the toughest, most demanding, most highly trained student job on campus. Until you get a small taste of what we do other than riding from Tate to EVC you can't judge. The average student driver drives more in one year than you probably have your entire life. It is a thankless job, where no one thinks about the drivers until a group of Sorostitutes urinates in the back of your bus or a bus is involved in a serious accident. Cut the drivers a break, they safely carry 12-20,000 people a day. Accidents happen. Thanks to the almost 150-200 hours of training received by every Campus Transit Driver (Full-Time or Part-Time Student) we do it safely day in day out.

I ask you Charles what you do for the University Community other than provide Athens-Clarke County with tax money? As far as pedestrian safety goes if you aren't part of the solution your part of the problem. Get out of the street, your mom told you it wasn't safe to play in the street.

Originally posted by

gerard

Professional full time police accident investigator determined that the pedestrain was clearly at fault. ... Thanks for commenting on a issue you know nothing about. You dont know the law, you and most other students have no idea when a pedestrain must yield to a vehicle under the law. Maybe at orientation they should hold a class on pedestrian traffic law.

And there are also laws of physics. If a bus *can't* stop quickly enough, it won't, no matter what you think the law requires it to do.

I would like to see an orientation session on both pedestrian and driving safety. To the drivers, I'd say two big things: (1) Your superior vehicle (truck, SUV, whatever) doesn't give you superior privileges; (2) there are places where you can't make a left turn and you shouldn't hold up the whole town trying.

Originally posted by

Agnostic! At the Disco

First, I would like to say that there ARE some crazy drivers who do CRAZY, risky things. I have seen a driver RUN A RED LIGHT. However, MOST drivers really good and really nice. I also understand how much time and dedication it takes to be a bus driver. However, I think it's crazy to act like all bus drivers are good and I don't see what's wrong with someone complaining about a bad bus driver.

Second, can we stop making mean comments about the girl getting hit? Loretta and Gerard, your comments were completely unneccessary and mean-spirited. (AndLeilani, you are not being a good representative of bus drivers with your comments.) Everyone makes mistakes. I'm just glad that she's alright.

1) No, there's nothing wrong with complaining about a bad driver but Charles was clearly wrong in the situation he wrote about. He admitted to standing in the street while the second bus was approaching. This is dangerous because you can be crushed between the two buses. It is no secret that the buses park right behind each other to prevent this. Why was he still in the street by the time the bus reached him? If you are going to jaywalk shouldn't you at least get out of the street quickly? If the bus is going at full speed shouldn't you wait until it passes to cross the street?

2) There was nothing wrong with Loretta and Gerard's comments. There was nothing "mean" about either of them. In fact, neither even mentioned the girl who got hit!

3) There was nothing wrong with LeiLani Welch's comment. It WAS the pedestrian's fault she was hit. There were witnesses and she's even getting a citation for it. This is not mean, this is a fact. Nothing she said reflects badly on Campus Transit.

As someone who depends on both Athens and Campus transit to get places I can tell you that pedestrians (and even drivers) do not respect the buses. People walk right in front of buses that have the right of way all of the time. People seem to think that buses just have to stop for them no matter what or that vehicles that have the right of way and are making a turn must stop for pedestrians. They can't stop on a dime people. Wait until you have the right of way!