Rant: Cars passing buses in the Rapid Ride bus stops

[Sue]

Last night I was driving north on Avalon Way, towards Harbor Avenue. Just as I was approaching the Rapid Ride bus stop on the south side of the street (with a bus in the stop), two cars decided they were too important to stop for the bus and were going to pass – at full speed – by driving into the oncoming traffic lane. In other words, getting ready to have a head-on collision with me who was totally legal in my travel lane. I had to swerve into the bus-only lane to my right to avert them. WTF, people! I see this all the time on California at Morgan, when the cars swing around using the center turn lane, at full speed, not even wondering if someone has pulled into that lane to, you know, make a legal turn using it.

The point of the bus bulbs (or whatever they’re called) was the stop the traffic behind them. Not to give you carte blanche to endanger other drivers while you swerve around the bus. Unfortunately I do not have any identifying info on the 2 cars since I was a bit preoccupied trying to not be hit, but we did call the non-emergency police # to let them know they might want to patrol these areas a bit more and alert them as to what happened. Probably futile, but people – be careful! Yes, it’s annoying to be stopped by a bus. And I honestly don’t even care that they were passing the bus, except that drivers who pass anything need to go slowly and make sure it’s safe to do so – not just charge out with a sense of entitlement that everyone will move for them.

Please be careful out there around those bus stops, everyone!

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[JanS]

Sue, yesterday was “Drive like a jerk” day. I was down by the Chelan Cafe, getting in the lane to turn to go to Delridge way, when 2 motorcyclists came speeding along side me, passing me in the next lane, leaning into the curve, and scared the everliving crap out of me. They were less than a foot from my car on the driver’s side. If I have swerved even a fraction, we would all have had a cataclysmic end..left me shaking !

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[Sue]

Oh yes, Jan … I didn’t even get into the other 6 cars that did unsafe maneuvers in my travels yesterday. :) I’m glad you’re okay from your own encounter!

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[luckymom30]

Add people texting or using their cell phones while driving, we were almost hit twice on Avalon yesterday.

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[Bostonman]

Not that what the drivers did was legal, because it wasn’t. I would be just as pissed as you but these are things that happen when they make bus stops that block traffic. If they had just left it the way it was you wouldn’t see this happening.

The law of unintended consequences at work.

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[Sue]

I agree, Bostonman … I’m not surprised in the least. And honestly, it probably wouldn’t have been necessary if people had yielded to buses leaving bus stops as they were required to do in the first place.

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[csw2119]

Sue I understand your point.

I have been opposed to these Rapid Ride bus stops since the beginning. I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to take away a lane of traffic. It makes no sense to take away a whole lane of traffic, so buses can use it once or twice every 10 minutes.

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[miws]

….it probably wouldn’t have been necessary if people had yielded to buses leaving bus stops as they were required to do in the first place.

That is spot on.

Mike

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[sam-c]

the bad driver epidemic continued to today, with someone driving the wrong way- UP the delridge off ramp from the West Seattle Bridge. luckily they managed a 5 point turn to fix their situation before going the wrong way across the bridge.

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[2krazy4words]

they do the same thing and go around school buses with STOP paddles activated. So with school starting, it will be even more fun for all of us.

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[JV]

How soon can we work on getting the Bus Bulbs removed?

It’s central planning stupidity at its finest. I pray that it doesn’t cost somebody their life in a head on collision before the planners admit their mistake and take action.

I’d like to appoint the anti-zipline guy to head up the anti-lane-blocking initiative! He gets sh!t done!

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[GenHillOne]

I wish Metro buses had stop paddles! I think part of the problem is the huge variance in how Metro drivers “communicate” with their flashers and turn/merge signals. It’s so hard to predict what the bus is going to do. How many times have you unnecessarily waited for a bus or conversely had to avoid a bus that suddenly decided to pull away from the curb into your lane because of how the flashers were used/not used. Not saying it’s right, just that after years of the free-for-all, it makes those bump-outs even riskier.

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[GoGo]

I totally agree with GenHillOne. I will always let a bus merge in front of me, IF the driver turns off the flashers and uses the turn signal to indicate what it wants to do. And don’t pull out right in front of someone when the road is clear behind them. Common sense!!

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[datamuse]

Yanno, it seems to me if waiting a minute or so for a Rapid Ride or school bus is such a massive inconvenience, maybe just leave the house a few minutes earlier. (I do agree the Metro buses can be unpredictable, though.)

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[dobro]

Here’s a crazy idea-slow down and obey the freakin’ law. And get off your damn cell phone and pay attention to your driving.

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[Smitty]

“Here’s a crazy idea-slow down and obey the freakin’ law. And get off your damn cell phone and pay attention to your driving.”

Couldn’t agree more, but would hope it also applies to red light running, intersection stopping bus drivers as well.

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