Should I complain?

Last Thursday we went into the city to celebrate my fiances birthday. While we were driving down a busy street, a city bus pulled out from where they were picking up passengers. We were currently passing the bus as it pulled out and the driver almost hit us. We had to quickly get into the next lane. If someone had been in that next lane, who knows what would have happened to us. It is rare on this street that there is nobody in the next lane and we were very lucky.

I got the bus number and license plate number so that I could complain to the company. I am not sure now that I really want to though because I doubt it will matter. Should I complain and and just hope they care or just ignore it because nothing did end up happening?

I'd call it in to the bus company since you have the number and license plate. If nothing else, the driver should have something written in his file as to his driving and safety.

Be sure to include the exact time, location, and direction of travel, plus any description you may have of the driver.

I would deffinately say something. Their job is to drive, and not kill poeple.... I dont think it is acceptable at all and they should be made aware of it!!!

I would complain.

I would definitely call the bus company and let them know of the incident. This will put a red flag on the driver's record and they can watch and make sure this doesn't happen again. Good luck!

yeah that happens all the time here. Just keep in mind you could have been in there blind spot.
I would call and say something because if it isn't something this driver is known to do Im sure nothing will happen but if he gets a lot of complaints it will show he or she is a bad driver and that it needs to be addressed.

Absolutely you should complain. You do not know how many times before this driver may have been careless and if no one complains the company will never know. If he has too many complaints, he will be fired, which is what he deserves. If this is the first time, he will be reminded to be more careful.

Everyone has a responsibility to their community, and speaking up is one of the most important things you can do.

Why would you complain? If it were a car pulling out, who would you complain too? Same situation IMHO, just a different vehicle.

When I drive and see a bus waiting to get into a lane I always let them in. They have a tight schedule to keep so I think it's just courtesy to let them in.

I would call and complain. It is the buss drives job to get people from one place to the next SAFELY. Waiting an extra 30sec to let a car pass you will not kill your secuadle. Buss divers in Cali. (where I grew up) are some of the worst drivers I have ever seen. I know they have a secudal to keep and it is hard to see smaller cars, but when I was in high school one of the buss drivers hit a student doing the exact same thing you discribed. He was not so lucky and there was a car in the other lane. His small car got pushed into the truck next to him. He was taken to the hospital and about half of the kids on the buss had minor injuries. The kids in the truck were fine (go trucks!) Busses are big and if they hit a car the car will loose.

My guess would be that you were in his blind spot. In the area where we live in Ontario and in Toronto, I believe it is required that you cede the right of way to the buses. I guess there were too many car drivers that would not let the buses pull back out into the roadway after taking on or letting off passengers at the bus lane. Makes sense to me. Because of that law I always take extra care when I see a bus ahead of me in their lane since I assume they may pull out in front of me.


Of course, you can always report it, but I doubt anything will come of it.

You can make a difference.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

My guess would be that you were in his blind spot. In the area where we live in Ontario and in Toronto, I believe it is required that you cede the right of way to the buses. I guess there were too many car drivers that would not let the buses pull back out into the roadway after taking on or letting off passengers at the bus lane. Makes sense to me. Because of that law I always take extra care when I see a bus ahead of me in their lane since I assume they may pull out in front of me.


Of course, you can always report it, but I doubt anything will come of it.

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I don't think we were in his blind spot. There was more than one car in the way of the bus pulling out. Our car was fairly close to the front of the bus so the driver couldn't have been paying attention very well or just didn't care.

I would say something. Car, bus, whatever, it seriously peeves me when people drive stupid.
I can't even count how many times I've been run out of my lane by someone deciding to merge into my lane, when my car is right next to theirs.
It seems to happen a lot less often now that I have an orange car, but still. People need to wake up, and watch the road. Especially if it's they're getting PAID to do so.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I dont think you should complain because it has been almost 5 years since it has been the law in Ontario for you to Yield the right of way to buses, and by the sounds of it, you and your partner broke the law. Coming up behind a stopped bus, the correct thing to do would have been to safely change lanes before the last instant, not make the bus force their way back into traffic. Perhaps awareness of this law is the issue, but the bus was doing nothing wrong in leaving their stop. If you complain, it will be you admitting to NOT following appropriate procedures re: public transit in Ontario, and you'll probably get a letter back about how fortunate you are for not getting a $90 ticket (my mother received such a letter following a similar complaint once in York Region).
There is lots of information on the "Yield to Bus Legislation" online.

http://www.yrt.ca/faq/yieldtobusfaq.pdf
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/faq/other.htm#ytb

Don't complain and thank your lucky stars that nothing happened. Learn from it and yield to buses from now on. I wish you more good luck.

I probably wouldn't complain. What if you were just in the drivers blind spot? Calling and complaining may put a mark on his record or get him reprimanded in some way, when he really did nothing wrong. I'd just be thankful that nothing bad came of the situation, and take extra care in the future to give buses more room.

Originally Posted by catlover19

I don't think we were in his blind spot. There was more than one car in the way of the bus pulling out. Our car was fairly close to the front of the bus so the driver couldn't have been paying attention very well or just didn't care.

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I'm more for giving them the benefit of the doubt since having never driven a bus myself I would just "assume" their blind spots are vastly different than those in a car. Also the bus driver does have the right of way and cars must yield to buses pulling out so the onus is on the car driver to be aware of what traffic is around them and drive accordingly.