Bus lanes and drivers who can’t read.

[Wollemi]

Is it just me that has a pet hate of people that seem unable to read a few words on a road sign.
I often travel on a urban road which has two lanes, one of which is a bus lane - but only from 7.30 - 9.30 Mon to Friday. There are frequent signs telling you this.
But at any time of the day or night 95% of the traffic travels in a queue in the outer lane. Including all the private hire drivers who are always complaining that proper taxis are allowed to use bus lanes.

Today I was trundling down the inside lane at 29mph at around 11:30 when a car in the right hand lane my right turned left cutting across me to go into a entrance way, clearly assuming that there would be nothing in the “bus lane”. He gave me some horn!

Has the whole world become illiterate, or perhaps unable to tell the time?

[Haltamer]

Tbh, I can usually respect the decision. There's a long stretch of bus lanes near me, intersected with junctions - At the junctions, and depending in the direction of travel, the bus lane times / days change, and with camera enforcement being rife around London, It can easily be seen as not worth the risk to just not use the lane.

[waremark]

Haltamer said:

Tbh, I can usually respect the decision. There's a long stretch of bus lanes near me, intersected with junctions - At the junctions, and depending in the direction of travel, the bus lane times / days change, and with camera enforcement being rife around London, It can easily be seen as not worth the risk to just not use the lane.

My position exactly - it is really stressful trying to be sure you don't miss a sign changing the hours of operation.

Incidentally, I have always thought it odd that there is no requirement to have a clock in a car in spite of this and hours when you can use the horn requiring you to know the time.

[Frank7]

Wollemi said:

Is it just me that has a pet hate of people that seem unable to read a few words on a road sign.
I often travel on a urban road which has two lanes, one of which is a bus lane - but only from 7.30 - 9.30 Mon to Friday. There are frequent signs telling you this.
But at any time of the day or night 95% of the traffic travels in a queue in the outer lane. Including all the private hire drivers who are always complaining that proper taxis are allowed to use bus lanes.

Today I was trundling down the inside lane at 29mph at around 11:30 when a car in the right hand lane my right turned left cutting across me to go into a entrance way, clearly assuming that there would be nothing in the “bus lane”. He gave me some horn!

Has the whole world become illiterate, or perhaps unable to tell the time?

I’m with you on this, I always check the times when bus lanes are “live”, and use them when it’s legal to do so, but I drive extra carefully, and a tad slower, I don’t trust the morons on the right who can’t or won’t read properly.
I was driving one day and making use of the bus lane in Evelyn Street, Deptford S.E. London.
Eventually I caught a red light near Surrey Quays station, and the guy next to me blew his horn, and said, “Can you read?”
I had an idea what was coming, so I said, “Sure, what is it that you need help with?”
He shouted, “You (rhymes with runt), you just drove all the way along Evelyn Sreet in the bus lane!”
I quietly replied, “That bus lane is operational from 07.00 to 10.30, Monday to Friday, it’s Saturday today, and it’s 11.40.”
As the lights changed, he yelled, “Makes no fu*king difference, you (rhymes with runt)!”

[66mpg]

In Guildford it has been decided that £10,000 will be spent changing the signs to make all the bus lanes operative 24/7 thus solving the problem here.

[Sheepshanks]

They've put one on the way into Chester but for ages signs said it wasn't in use. You'd think people would quickly learn, but there was on evidence of that. Was great having a lane to myself for a few months.

[Glenn63]

Ssshhh don’t bring their attention to it it means the few of us that can read get a nice empty lane to ourselves!

[markyb_lcy]

Glenn63 said:

Ssshhh don’t bring their attention to it it means the few of us that can read get a nice empty lane to ourselves!

Yep it’s great. Well, it was until our local council pushed them all to 24hr operation rendering my road and half the borough into a car park.

[SpeedyTheTortoise]

Haltamer said:

Tbh, I can usually respect the decision. There's a long stretch of bus lanes near me, intersected with junctions - At the junctions, and depending in the direction of travel, the bus lane times / days change, and with camera enforcement being rife around London, It can easily be seen as not worth the risk to just not use the lane.

This.

I (thankfully) don't come across bus lanes in my day-to-day driving but on the rare occasion that I have, I never drove in them because frankly I can't 'cognitively' work out the signage quickly enough to determine whether to drive in them or not, and with the risk of enforcement I figure it's not worth the risk.

I hope that doesn't make me a moron

I'd be rubbish driving somewhere like London with all the rules and what-not. I don't think I could handle it!

[fooman]

The times when you can use them traffic isn't an issue, so they may as well be 24/7. They are almost all in urban areas where overtaking will just get you to the next traffic queue quicker anyway.

[Frank7]

SpeedyTheTortoise said:

This.

I (thankfully) don't come across bus lanes in my day-to-day driving but on the rare occasion that I have, I never drove in them because frankly I can't 'cognitively' work out the signage quickly enough to determine whether to drive in them or not, and with the risk of enforcement I figure it's not worth the risk.

I hope that doesn't make me a moron

I'd be rubbish driving somewhere like London with all the rules and what-not. I don't think I could handle it!

While I can understand, and totally agree with you that there are times when it’s not easy to take in the the times when bus lanes are “live”, especially if at the same time you’re trying to keep an eye on traffic conditions, I loved your final line about not being confident enough to handle all the rules and signage.
When the streets of the capital were where I made my daily bread, I was glad that there were people who stayed away from driving in London, as they thought that it may be frightening.
It made my life easier, as the majority of drivers around me were confidently reading the road as I was, and not only aware of what was behind them, but recognising what they were approaching, and adjusting their speed, or indicating to switch lanes, to make their progress smoother.

[Smiljan]

66mpg said:

In Guildford it has been decided that £10,000 will be spent changing the signs to make all the bus lanes operative 24/7 thus solving the problem here.

Same happened on my commute, overnight change so was very nearly caught out the next day.

It's almost like they're deliberately trying to catch you out.....

[Frank7]

What fun, I was sitting in the back of my sister-in-law’s Nissan Micra in Paris, when she said, “Frank, what does that sign mean?”
I looked up and saw, “Voie de circulation réservée pour autobus.”
I said, “It means that you’re probably looking at maybe a €100 fine.”

[tejr]

I tend not to use them as they are often in areas where you are greeted with the greatest of hostility when you try to merge back in, as inevitablely the bus lane will lead you into a left-turn-only situation. Unless it's an exceptionally long stretch where I can use the free lane. Doesn't happen often though.

Oh.. And pot holes..

[66mpg]

Smiljan said:

66mpg said:

In Guildford it has been decided that £10,000 will be spent changing the signs to make all the bus lanes operative 24/7 thus solving the problem here.

Same happened on my commute, overnight change so was very nearly caught out the next day.

It's almost like they're deliberately trying to catch you out.....

So far it’s only a declaration of intent, which means I have to check the signs each time, just in case they have finally got around to changing them overnight. Another item of observation required for the driving plan...

[markyb_lcy]

Smiljan said:

66mpg said:

In Guildford it has been decided that £10,000 will be spent changing the signs to make all the bus lanes operative 24/7 thus solving the problem here.

Same happened on my commute, overnight change so was very nearly caught out the next day.

It's almost like they're deliberately trying to catch you out.....

Yep. Hence why around here in SE London where they’ve taken to closing residential roads because they were used at “rat runs” (‘cos covid), instead of investing in bollards, they buy a camera and put up a small, discreet, hidden but legally visible sign. Ker-ching!

[tejr]

markyb_lcy said:

Smiljan said:

66mpg said:

In Guildford it has been decided that £10,000 will be spent changing the signs to make all the bus lanes operative 24/7 thus solving the problem here.

Same happened on my commute, overnight change so was very nearly caught out the next day.

It's almost like they're deliberately trying to catch you out.....

Yep. Hence why around here in SE London where they’ve taken to closing residential roads because they were used at “rat runs” (‘cos covid), instead of investing in bollards, they buy a camera and put up a small, discreet, hidden but legally visible sign. Ker-ching!

On the flipside, the bollards prevent emergency vehicle access. I think there was an 'incident' in Redbridge where an Ambulance was severely delayed by the new planters that were used to block the rat runs. They were successfully appealed, but cameras will be installed at some point. So a hollow win for the residents who had appealed for reasons of massive inconvenience for little gain.

[markyb_lcy]

tejr said:

markyb_lcy said:

Smiljan said:

66mpg said:

In Guildford it has been decided that £10,000 will be spent changing the signs to make all the bus lanes operative 24/7 thus solving the problem here.

Same happened on my commute, overnight change so was very nearly caught out the next day.

It's almost like they're deliberately trying to catch you out.....

Yep. Hence why around here in SE London where they’ve taken to closing residential roads because they were used at “rat runs” (‘cos covid), instead of investing in bollards, they buy a camera and put up a small, discreet, hidden but legally visible sign. Ker-ching!

On the flipside, the bollards prevent emergency vehicle access. I think there was an 'incident' in Redbridge where an Ambulance was severely delayed by the new planters that were used to block the rat runs. They were successfully appealed, but cameras will be installed at some point. So a hollow win for the residents who had appealed for reasons of massive inconvenience for little gain.

Good point.

Perhaps with all the revenue they’re making they could come up with some fancy remote controlled bollards that could be lowered by authorised emergency vehicles for access ... just an idea that came to me.

Personally I don’t want to see these roads closed. It just pushed more congestion onto major roads, creating more pollution and unnecessary delays.

The councils are quite overt that their real reason for doing this stuff is to discourage driving altogether.

[Smiljan]

This is one of the ones on my commute that was changed overnight. Google maps still shows the old sign but it's now changed to 24/7 active.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4542616,-0.40748...

Like a posters mention above some of the other roads in these boroughs have bus lanes for which the restrictions change all the time on the same road. No wonder people are reluctant to use them.

[M4cruiser]

Somewhere on one of my regular routes they have spent a lot REMOVING the bus lane, because it's now "virtual", yet only about a mile away they've put another one in. So, do the virtual ones work or don't they?!!