A Bus Drivers View on Snow
 

On Friday most of Birmingham was brought to a standstill due to a sudden snow fall. All roads into and out of the city center were at a standstill and the motorways were solid. This resulted in major delays for a lot of public transport including the buses!

I was supposed to take over at 6pm GMT. This i did but going in the wrong direction, instead of going into the center I was going out, this put the bus at 1 hour late already. Driving this 11 tonne machine was very interesting. A lot of the roads that we use had not been gritted yet as the council was caught out. This resuited in a lot of ice.....this meant a bus sliding all over the place under breaking. I couldnt go much more than 15mph a lot of the time. Approaching one of the junctions that i use there is a slight downhill gradient and i mean SLIGHT. I stopped (just) put the parking brake on and then noticed that the bus was sliding very slowly!!!! I had to jam the foot brake on as well!

Along another road i was behind another bus (this one only a single decker) and watching it slide from side to side. There was no grip at all. The only thing that was stopping us spinning 360 degrees was the kirbs.

I finally made it to the outer end of the run and depending on how you looked at it i was either 2 hours 15 mins late OR on time! It took me nearly 2 hours to do a part of the route that usually takes 30 mins at the most.

Great fun!

sounds like fun....not. :D glad you didn't crash

I was thinking of you Mayhem - our car didn't leave the driveway last week!

The wheels on the bus go round and round, so does the bus. LOL

Glad that you got 'round OK.

crap that really sucks!!!i, mrally glad to be gone from there now !

stay safe

~nikki

Snow is one thing...but ice sucks!

We're expecting about 12" this evening and then a nice topping of ice for good measure!

I get leary of others and their driving skills (or lack of) rather than how I'm doing.

Glad you're ok sweety! Just remember...the distance between two objects is greater if you aren't in one of the objects!

Amen!


Glad you're okay Mayhem! Just be careful.

Bus Driver Rule No. 2
No two particles of matter can simultaneous occupy the same point in space. ;)








(It's only a hypothesis, but it's being tested daily.)

Sounds like an interesting evening, getting re-aquainted with Sir Isaac Newton.



An object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted on by an outside force.

Very scary Mayhem!!!! Glad you made it home safe!!!