Emergency Door Button use on Buses

[sk688]

Just had a quick question , idk if it needed a new thread or not , but here it is

I was on the 79 today , at the stop before Edgware High Street , stuck in traffic . As we were at a red light , one guy pressed the " door open " button above the rear doors , and got out . Seen this happen on other buses as well , and was just wondering what the punishment for this would be , if any , especially as the buses now have CCTV

so just wanted to ask what would happen , if anything , to anyone who uses the emergency door open buttons

 

[Busaholic]

Once they're gone, I can't see any sanction can be imposed. The bus can't move, so there shouldn't be a safety (to other passengers) issue and, I'd have thought the BTP wouldn't be interested.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Bus emergency door buttons are just regular door controls; if the doors lose power they are just released because they are only held closed by air pressure (unlike trains they usually do not actually lock physically). The driver just presses "close" and continues on his way with some mild swearing and cursing.

 

[90019]

so just wanted to ask what would happen , if anything , to anyone who uses the emergency door open buttons

In a word, nothing.

No point reporting it, and it'd be a lot of effort to track someone down for something so minor.

 

[Volvodart]

I remember someone trying it on one of the First Aberdeen artics one time at traffic lights. The bus driver must have had a control over stopping them opening because he could not get off when he pressed the button. She would have seen what he was doing.

I have also seen someone get off at traffic lights from the offside emergency door on a Stagecoach Bluebird coach!

 

[Flying Snail]

I remember someone trying it on one of the First Aberdeen artics one time at traffic lights. The bus driver must have had a control over stopping them opening because he could not get off when he pressed the button. She would have seen what he was doing.

I have also seen someone get off at traffic lights from the offside emergency door on a Stagecoach Bluebird coach!

On some types if you hold the close button down the open will not work.

 

[radamfi]

I'd have thought the BTP wouldn't be interested.

I thought buses use the regular police, rather than BTP?

 

[Busaholic]

I thought buses use the regular police, rather than BTP?

They would presumably be even less interested: at least, I hope so.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Quite popular buttons to use in Barnsley, as the local scroats that are cladded up in a shell suit, baseball cap and crappy Nike trainers use it to alight from many of the services. How they don't get b*ll****d by the driver I do not know.

 

[GusB]

I remember someone trying it on one of the First Aberdeen artics one time at traffic lights. The bus driver must have had a control over stopping them opening because he could not get off when he pressed the button. She would have seen what he was doing.

I have also seen someone get off at traffic lights from the offside emergency door on a Stagecoach Bluebird coach!

I've no idea how it works on the artics, but I don't recall any First Aberdeen drivers knowing how to operate the rearmost doors on their artics either! The original Grampian artic (K1GRT) had three doors if I recall correctly, and only the front and middle ones were used. Dual-door operation was still a common feature back then, of course. When the Volvo B7LAs (or whatever they're called - I'd lost interest by then) were introduced, I only ever remember having to alight from the front door.

Quite popular buttons to use in Barnsley, as the local scroats that are cladded up in a shell suit, baseball cap and crappy Nike trainers use it to alight from many of the services. How they don't get b*ll****d by the driver I do not know.

There's naff-all you can do about that. Once they've pressed the button and made a swift exit, what are you going to do?

 

[Volvodart]

The middle door on bus 1 was used but they always had problems with the rearmost door opening. They tried to get passengers using the rear door on the B7LAs to speed boarding. They never seemed to maintain the rear doors, as there were always problems with them on both the older and newer artics. At some point it must have been decided to do something about them, as they generally have always in use for their latter years of all of them.

 

[Smethwickian]

Undoubtedly something somewhere in operator conditions of carriage, byelaws, PSV regulations or the Road Traffic Acts to prohibit interference with bus equipment or unauthorized use of controls. So we'll just park the bus, look all that up, summon police and, two hours later, set off in pursuit of the miscreant........
Or alternatively just sigh, mutter a few epithets about the plonker, close the door and get on with life.

 

[TUC]

Not the emergency doors but I have known situations where a bus has been stopped mid-route for a change of driver and 5-10 minutes have passed without the new driver materialising, during which time some passengers due to get off at the next stop have got fed up and used the main door emergency contols to disembark where they were. The new driver has then got cross at finding the doors open, but I can't blame the passengers too much to be honest.

 

[route101]

Seen a few times with passengers using it to get off and to get on as well

 

[Busaholic]

Not the emergency doors but I have known situations where a bus has been stopped mid-route for a change of driver and 5-10 minutes have passed without the new driver materialising, during which time some passengers due to get off at the next stop have got fed up and used the main door emergency contols to disembark where they were. The new driver has then got cross at finding the doors open, but I can't blame the passengers too much to be honest.

With some bus companies it is policy to leave the (or a) door open on driver transfers so passengers aren't left 'trapped'; this of course then leads to complaints during cold or windy weather, so there's no ideal solution. Personally, I think a door should be left open, and intending passengers allowed on too unless the incoming driver is already there and ready to board.

 

[Mojo]

With some bus companies it is policy to leave the (or a) door open on driver transfers so passengers aren't left 'trapped'; this of course then leads to complaints during cold or windy weather, so there's no ideal solution. Personally, I think a door should be left open, and intending passengers allowed on too unless the incoming driver is already there and ready to board.

I've had this happen to me, but surely any decent company should have a policy that requires that the existing driver should wait with the vehicle until his relief arrives, thus ensuring that the Controller is informed if nobody shows up, as well as dealing with any incidents that arise.

 

[Busaholic]

I've had this happen to me, but surely any decent company should have a policy that requires that the existing driver should wait with the vehicle until his relief arrives, thus ensuring that the Controller is informed if nobody shows up, as well as dealing with any incidents that arise.

Yes, absolutely, but in practice...? I was more thinking of door open or closed when the first driver goes: sometimes in some parts of the country with bus route licensing legislation the original driver may be taking over a bus on the same route going in the opposite direction, with a different depot's driver doing the second part of the journey. With London Transport, matters came to a head one day on the 188 when a crew left their bus at Bricklayer's Arms halfway through their journey, no crew arrived to take it over ('staff cut') and the Met Police eventually towed it away! Not sure anyone lost their job, but I think it ended the career progressions of one or two.

 

[MedwayValiant]

Going back to the early 90s, I remember travelling on a service operated by Buffalo (Flitwick).

Grumpy bus drivers are not a rare commodity, but Buffalo had one who was just about the most irascible person I've met in my whole life - and it seemed to be him whenever I used one of their services.

Anyway, on this occasion on the 343 (Dunstable to St Albans), his door button wasn't working. Anyone who wanted to get off had to press the emergency button, and if anyone wanted to get on, he had to get up, press the button, tell the new passenger what a bad day he was having, and then take their fare. It was not one of my best ever bus rides. Is it actually legal to run a bus in service in that way?

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

Going back to the early 90s, I remember travelling on a service operated by Buffalo (Flitwick).

Grumpy bus drivers are not a rare commodity, but Buffalo had one who was just about the most irascible person I've met in my whole life - and it seemed to be him whenever I used one of their services.

Anyway, on this occasion on the 343 (Dunstable to St Albans), his door button wasn't working. Anyone who wanted to get off had to press the emergency button, and if anyone wanted to get on, he had to get up, press the button, tell the new passenger what a bad day he was having, and then take their fare. It was not one of my best ever bus rides. Is it actually legal to run a bus in service in that way?

lol... I seem to remember Buffalo made the grumpy bus driver into an art form... they had one coach driver who only did private hires... and every one started with a long lecture on what you was and more importantly wasn't allowed to do on his coach... with plenty of implied threats that if you failed to obey his rules then he'd leave you by the roadside...
as to the legality of running a service like that I would say no.. it would be a PG9, however saying that the Ministry had a field day in Buffalo's depot after one of their buses was involved in a runaway incident... the police officer asked the driver what had happened and got the reply "the brakes failed again" IIRC on that visit nearly 3/4 of the fleet was issued with immediate prohibitions!

 

[goblinuser]

I remember a disturbed looking man walking up to the front and pressing the open button on an Enviro 400 going full pelt across a busy North Circular interchange. The bus shuddered to a stop and he walked off immediately right in the middle of the fast traffic.

 

[Martin2012]

I remember a few years ago being on a bus between Chippenham and Bath and the driver stopped at a pub somewhere near Box and went in to use the facilities.

Seem to recall the door was left shut during that time

 

[matt_world2004]

Drivers on TfL contracted routes are not allowed to leave their bus until their relief turns up .

 

[Barry K]

I remember a disturbed looking man walking up to the front and pressing the open button on an Enviro 400 going full pelt across a busy North Circular interchange. The bus shuddered to a stop and he walked off immediately right in the middle of the fast traffic.

Interesting. The application of the handbrake for that is supposed to be at 3mph or less, and only on the rear doors..... The students from the college on Clapham Common found this out the hard way one day......

 

[Joe Paxton]

In heavy London traffic and on asking the driver if they could open the front door so I could nip out, a couple of times I've had them say they're not allowed to but that I could go ahead and use the emergency release button myself, along with a warning to be careful of bikes. Suited me fine!

 

[Typhoon]

I was on an artic in Birmingham approaching a busy roundabout, in the right hand lane but being held up in the traffic. One passenger 'asked' the driver to open the doors, she refused (possibly because the traffic turning left was more free flowing) despite him rattling the driver's door rather violently. He then used the emergency door button to open the door, he got out, lifted the pushchair (complete with child) his partner was pushing out of the bus, his partner then alighted and the party then walked across the road despite the steady flow of traffic. Having reached the pavement, the passenger bricked the nearside front window of the bus!
I have no idea whether there was any penalty for the passenger, but there was for the driver - she was shell-shocked! Whether it is legal to open the door or not, having seen this I would never blame a driver for doing so.

 

[RJ]

People sometimes go for that button on my rail replacement services. I usually keep an eye on the gangway mirrors and will cancel their attempt to open the doors, then make an announcement stating that the emergency button is for emergency use only. Sometimes people try and use it when there are cyclists and motorcyclists coming up on the inside so I do what I do for safety reasons.