A trap for young players.

Posted on 17-01-2012 11:05 | By CC8

Yes an easy thing to misjudge there. The normal traffic is traveling at 1-40kph at that time of day, buses can legally do 70kph in that lane. BUT they are often doing way more than that to catch the green light. And yes they seemingly come out of NOWHERE. Off the flyover (at speed) and into the buss lane often ignoring traffic coming from under the flyover, by time they reach Turners driveway it is only a few seconds that they are visible in the bus lane... No matter how fast they are allowed to go they are not driving to the conditions if the rest of the traffic is doing 40 and they are doing 70. Bus lanes are another lot of social engineering by the meddlers at Regional council , attempting to make their non-viable public transport system attractive to more punters. At the end of the day the whole of Hewletts road redevelopment is a disaster.....One whole lane in each direction taken up by a buss lane, so effectively means that one third of the money spent is for the benefit of a council run service which operates (intermittently) about twice an hour. Property values and business have suffered and the traffic jam has just been moved elsewhere ( Maunganui Rd/Bayfair and Bethlehem.) All for a few hundred million dollars!!!

your wrong

Posted on 17-01-2012 12:06 | By figja

Hi cc8 Were you talking about Hewletts Road in Tauranga or some other town.If you were you need to get your facts right.

Posted on 17-01-2012 12:39 | By whatsinaname

The flyover is quite a distance from where the accident happened at turners.there are three lanes on hewletss road. One for the busses and two for traffic. Just because a driver in the normal lane waves you so you can pull in dont mean to say you can do it. remember that bus lane.. obviously the driver of the car in the accident didnt realise tht. We have a busness on hewlets road near Turners and often here the screech of brakes because people dont realise the bus lane actually has busses on it and its NOT a lane to pull out in and then merge into the traffic. .................................................................. Leaving the auction house the teen waited in the driveway before pulling out into the BUS LANE where the collision with a Bay Hopper bus occurred just after 4.15pm................ The above paragraph copied from the write up above says it all. He pulled into the bus lane.............

where ?

Posted on 17-01-2012 14:23 | By tonyb1

I cant see in the article where it talks about the flyover ? and if you have been on that road and trying to pull out the buses fly down that lane as if it is a race track and that does not also include the people who use it to get around the traffic jams

bopmannz

Posted on 17-01-2012 15:08 | By Paulv

I dunno bout Hewletts road being a redevelopment disaster. It has got the best bicycle lanes in the whole of Tauranga and if traffic learns to keep out of the bus /bicycle lanes then all the better. If you notice that as you come off the flyover there are solid white lines on your left for some distance up Hewletts rd. These white line s mean that you must stay in your lane until the line becomes dashed. This allows time and distance for traffic coming off the flyover and from under the flyover to run next to each before merging. Quite simple really. And as for red traffic light runners. I pulled up to the lights as they went from amber to red and behind me heard a truck gunning for the lights. They were red when the fully laden petrol tanker shot through. Where are the police or the council camera people when you need them. Forget policing the open highway, I reckon they could make more money catching the red light runners in Hewletts Rd alone.

Bus Racing

Posted on 17-01-2012 15:12 | By Colleen Spiro

I agree with Tonyb1.....I have been in buses that fly down those lanes....I actually feel sorry for this young lad....A lesson learned the hard way... I hope it does not put him off for life. I have been in the bus often from Te Puke to Tauranga (and return) who has one particularly aggressive driver and was quite concerned for my own safety as a passenger.

Car hit Bus

Posted on 17-01-2012 16:23 | By dgk

From the photos, it looks like he hit the side of the bus. So wasn't looking out for traffic properly....oh well, one way to learn that lesson I suppose.

Bus was going to fast!

Posted on 17-01-2012 19:26 | By furgus154

Before all you know alls condemn the young guy. I saw this accident happen. Yes the young guy was in the wrong but he had only nosed his car out into the bus lane before the front of the car was hooked by the front of the bus spun around and then smacked up the back by the rear side door on the bus which then sent the car flying into the lamp post . The bus was going so fast he didn't have time to brake or swerve and cars in the other lanes were all going slow. The whole thing scared the hell out of me and i felt sorry for his parents (put your self in their shoes) These bus lanes are dangerous and they should be traveling at a slower speed then the cars.Sooner or later someone will be killed!

bus lane in the way

Posted on 17-01-2012 19:26 | By feefee

in order to get onto the road you need to cross over the bus lane!

Another bad driver

Posted on 17-01-2012 19:57 | By welshgirlnz

I'm so glad it was a bus that hit the car and not a motorbike as the outcome could quite easily have been a fatality for the motorcyclist. There are too many chancers out on the roads with very little driving skills. Hope this will be a wake up call for this 16 year old to get some proper training.

B drivers

Posted on 17-01-2012 21:32 | By tibs

Too many of those bus drivers rely on the "might is right" method of getting through traffic. I think they must train in Auckland. I nearly got cleaned up by one, one morning. My light went green and just as I went to move off, left onto Hewletts Rd from the side road by Gull, I caught a glimpse of movement to my right and yep, here came a big yellow bus and there he went, my light still green, so his was red. Not even a second glance from the driver. Even if you're turning left into a business from the bus lanes, and you've estimated the 50m distance at which you can enter the lane, they still charge at you from behind and don't like it if you don't jump out of their way. I remember Mayor Crosby saying that for 15 buses an hour he wasn't sure whether the bus lanes could be justified. "Ah, sense at last" I thought but no he did what he;'s so good at and voted the other way. Somewhere along the way, we pay dearly for the buses as the passengers contribute less than 25% of the costs. There's a lot in what CC8 said first off.

hum

Posted on 17-01-2012 22:11 | By Capt_Kaveman

it is a bus lane as well as a cycle lane as well as a motorbike lane and as far as i know any bus can use it including motorhomes to what i understand,not sure how many cyclists or mbikes been run over by buses if any, + i always have seen buses come from under the flyover not over it, i think the bus lane ending lines are to short anyhow and i think the 50m law is not long enough

Posted on 17-01-2012 23:00 | By sweetlc

I have been in the same position, where someone has slowed or stopped and tried to egg me out into the traffic, I choose not to go until I know I can get across the bus lane and straight into the traffic lane. Just tonight on the corner of Hewletts Road and Maru Street a truck came off Hewletts road turning left into Maru Street as I was about to cross Hewletts Road on a green walking light NOT and green traffic light and he wasn't going slow. I hate Hewletts Road

Ludacris

Posted on 18-01-2012 17:42 | By smokelessboat

I am mortified to find out the bus lane does indeed have a 70kph speed limit. With congested traffic, cars parked along the edge of the road and the odd bus flying by through the middle of it all upwards of 70kph - what do we expect to happen. Perhaps you "polite" drivers need to check before you wave unsuspecting young victims into the awaiting jaws of your death traps. Poor lad.