Wow that was scary ! I got off work early today just around the time that everybody gets off school. So I am riding along this one road that I use often. As I am riding I hear this very loud sound of a diesel engine as if some big vehicle is accelerating fast and hard. All of a sudden this big long yellow bus goes by me very close, it was just way to close. I couldn't get any closer to the curb because I am riding a fixed gear, so my cranks would of struck a curb. So as this big long yellow thing is going by, I am thinking is this it for me ?
Well thankfully I didn't crash but it scared the **** out of me. I am pretty sure it was done on purpose because there is plenty of room on that road to pass a cyclist. I am very sure that that driver seen me because I am very visible with my big orange messenger bag, and the road conditions were perfect. Now this is not the first time I noticed a bad school bus driver,it seems that a lot of them drive very agressively. I don't get it ? Aren't school bus drivers supposed to be safer and more polite then others ? No not around here! As an example, public transit buses always give me a lot of room but those damn school buses just , wana run me over.
I was thinking of catching up with him, (which I could of )and take a picture of his licence plate but then I thought what's the point ? How am I supposed to prove that he is an unsafe driver ? Would police believe me ? Would he get charged ?

Write a polite letter explaining what happened including the exact time and location to the local school district and with a cc to the police department. Even if nothing happens as a result of a single complaint, it will be recorded and may well result in action if there is a pattern of complaints. The school district can presumably identify which driver was on that route at the time.

If you report it, there's a possibility that nothing will be done.

If you don't report it, that becomes a certainty.

You owe it to yourself and to other riders to report it.

Call the bus company with the bus number - they will take action.

Especially make mention of how the driver endangered, not only you, but the children in the bus, as well.

Follow it up a couple days later, by asking the supervisor the result..

Don't get mad, get even.
Don't be difficult, with a little work, you can be impossible.

Find out who supervises the bus drivers, go to that person and register your complaint.

Jeff, still fat

my experience is that private contacted school bus drivers are among the most dangerous and aggressive on the road. that applies to 7 years commuting in brooklyn/manhattan and now in Philly

Get on the sidewalk!! Dummy

MrRamonG,
I hope you aren't starting the bicyclists should not be on the road thing again.

I filed a complaint last year after almost being ran over by a bus when I was commuting to school. I was forced into oncoming traffic, and luckily they stopped.

The bus driver was charged with Failure to Yield to oncoming traffic, and I got a canned apology card

I usually see 6 or 7 school buses on my commute, with half of those passing me and the other half going the opposite way. In general, I find that the drivers are quite safe when they pass. It's the city bus drivers I have a problem with, and also, a particular private ambulance company.

+1

In my experience, school busses are one the worst vehicles to encounter on the road. The forums largely confirm it. Somehow it seems to be a part-time job that attracts high numbers of incompetent ignoramuses with dangerous attitudes and an unjustified sense of entitlement to the road. They somehow think that because they are transporting precious little turds... um, I mean, darlings, they own the road and everyone must just get out of the way. I've had school busses almost running me over as I was walking on a sidewalk, when they were making crazy sharp right turns at speed.

when I was in fourth grade I was on a school field trip to Tallahassee, FL and watched as our driver pinned a bicyclist on the curb throwing him onto the sidewalk and tacoing his wheel which was then propped on the curb with the rear wheels. The incident was noticed by everyone and when the teacher said something the driver just shrugged. That scene plays in my mind everytime I'm near a school bus on the bike.

Unlike metro/urban bus drivers school bus drivers receive a minimum of training and often work for contractors. Very often part-time @ very low wages. City drivers go through a rigorous and highly technical training schedule w/onboard supervision long before they're allowed to operate a vehicle on their own. Professional in every sense of the word.

Not so w/school bus drivers. At one point in my life I was allowed to take a group of developmentally disabled kids to the zoo on a 'school bus'. My level of training? "You know how to drive a standard transmission?" "Yes." "Well, parallel park the bus over there by those cones....Nice job, just make sure you put your flashers on and stop at any railroad crossings." "Ok. That's it?" "Yep, have fun. See ya back here at about 4 o'clock. They'll show you where to park when you get to the zoo." Had great time w/t kids, but in retrospect I can't believe I was allowed THAT level of rsponsibility w/THAT level of training.

The only problem with school buses around here is that they're far too courteous. They'll follow me for 1/2 mile if there's a double yellow even though any sensible person would have passed, since there's enough sight line to pass a bike (but not a car). They've stopped in the middle of traffic to try to make me take an undeserved right-of-way. Other stuff too. The only time I've ever been irritated by a bus driver it was because she was being to deferential to me.

We don't have transit buses here to speak of, though there are some small, 20 passenger "on call" buses (really big vans, really), and I see one of them once or twice a week. They're pretty nice too.

Wow, TN is pretty laid back then. You do NOT get to drive a bus in Michigan unless you have a chauffeur license, and unlike the regular license, you DO need to know what you're doing to get it. I know a couple of people with the tests, and they said they were not easy tests, either paper or road.

Even when driving vans, even if there's nothing but equipment in them (maybe full of band instruments), you have to be a school employee or be OK'd by the insurance company to take them onto the road.

Drivers don't like red lights and the only problem is that they are way too polite. Wow. And I thought Canada was supposed to be mellow. Time to move to Michigan?

First, a little bit about me,

I am a school bus driver currently for a contract company, one of several in our county. Most other counties around us have county-run drivers instead. So I'm not certain how things go with county-run drivers, or with city buses. I'm also relatively new as a driver, just starting this year.

I realize everyone has their own points of view about things, and I only wish to share mine.

To the original poster, I'd advise reporting that driver. Most school buses will have the county or company printed on the side and perhaps even a contact number near the front. Or you could look up the school board number.
In either case, the bus number identifies the driver. Drivers have to pre-trip their buses before every route, and paperwork is the method to cover themselves, someone knows who was driving the bus at any given moment. Reporting the driver is worth something, even if no disciplinary action is taken at that particular time.

Drivers here must have clean motor vehicle records to become drivers, and we are trained extensively, to obtain a CDL class B with Passenger and School endorsements. In addition, we receive on-going training in regards to safety. Again, we may not be like other school bus drivers, but I have witnessed my share of unsafe practices by many motorists, including city and other school bus drivers, some in my own company. I have reported every single one, including once when I stopped at a railroad, but forgot to actually put the bus in park and open the door to listen properly, and once when I activated my student lights to let a student off, but accidentally put the master switch off in the process. The master switch must be on for the student lights to function (not sure WHY its a two part system...).
There will be a level of idiocy, neglect and general complacency in every area of employment, and they need to be weeded out systematically. People need jobs and take what they can get. Training and passing tests only does so much. Just look at the kinds of idiots who own a regular driver's license.

In general, I'd say if you feel victimized in any way in anything you are doing, do something about it. Even if your efforts are frustratingly ineffective in getting the immediate result you desire, perhaps in time you will. Also, please always take a step back and realize that something like this may not have been done intentionally. The driver may have not realized you needed more space, may have not been paying attention, any other reason. While inattention or negligence is also not excuseable, simply realize that not everyone is doing things to antagonize you specifically to be mean. Then again, some are. /shrug

Do what you think is right, and in the meantime, get your sympathy and advice here.

I realize that not every bus driver is a bad driver, and I don't mean to put them all in the same category. But I just noticed a pattern among the school bus drivers around my area where I ride, I think that there are too many of them that are dargerous drivers. It's bad enough to get buzzed by a small car , but with something as big as a bus it's just feels so much worse.

No, this happened many years ago in California. Don't know what the qualifications are here in TN.

School bus drivers are mostly very courteous here. They usually give me lots of room.

Definitely report it. Likeliest the driver simply didn't see you, despite your bright colors, but report it regardless.

Yeah: I've never driven a bus (!) but I've ridden in a truck cab and driven some pretty big vans, and you wouldn't believe how awful the visibility is in some of them if you didn't see it for yourself. Even when you're looking out, you can miss a lot - so if you're being inattentive you can miss everything easily.

Also, my impression is that there's a lot more casualisation/contracting out/deskilling in school/contract bus driving than in city bus driving.

You gotta figure a bus is going to use more lane then a car so it's going to ride closer if he doesn't have the room to go out and around. My deal is when they have an empty lane next to them and they still don't give you the room. Just don't hit me, I'm OK with that.

rant begins...

I have driven school buses. they are big and visibility is poor. you always give more room than otherwise. if a driver does not do so they are not driving safely. report it.

Every morning I drive by the School Bus depot. I get buzzed 2-3 days out of 5. there is NO reason for this. I have been reporting them as they occur (numbers on speed dial). Eventually I hope the county system will get the message out there.

as for training? no I don't think so. I was shown the controls, given the rule book, taken for a trip around the block, instructed to stop at RxR crossings, etc. sat for the driver exam, but no no training other than that.

City buses are 50-50. I get passed frequently on my daily route. had a few cut a little close or pass and then stop directly in front of me for the bus stop. This is so unnecessary. It's scary and troubling. most are pretty good and move to other lane to pass.

Regardless of bus or car... slow down when you are out there. it's simply not worth that extra couple seconds to make sure you are doing the safe thing.

I frequently catch up with the vehicle that was in such a hurry at the next light/intersection so it can't save them any time to do this.

end of rant.