Reporter has a wheel of a time as a bus driver
When a bus driver from Bath was named the second best in the country, the Bath Chronicle sent reporter Emma Cooney to meet him and she soon got behind the wheel herself.
When I was told I would be driving a bus for work I was immediately keen to get behind the wheel.
There were mocking cries from colleagues, who said they keep off the road while I was driving, and others who said it was a disaster waiting to happen.
do they know? I thought. show arriving at the Weston depot of bus company First I was given an attractive highvisibility jacket and pointed towards the bus park area furthest away from where can i get a cheap north face jacket the building. I set off, excited about driving on the open road, picking up old ladies and giving people the wrong change.
First top driver Andy Evered was there to meet me. The 45yearold fatheroftwo scooped second prize at the UK National Bus Driver of the Year Awards in Blackpool.
Part of his test was to negotiate a bus through an obstacle course of traffic cones and as I approached, there were some cones laid out for me to tackle. Perhaps I wouldn be driving on the open road after all.
My face dropped when I heard top speed in the depot north face jackets for cheap was 5mph and I probably wouldn need the accelerator.
Examiner John Bowyer was there to give me some tips about manoeuvring the outofservice 36ft single decker.
First, Andy got in the driving seat to show me how it was done.
To everyone relief, Andy managed the Weston depot course without a hitch and I was up next.
I gulped as I got behind the wheel and all the knobs and switches were explained. The buses are automatic, which is weird if you are used to manual.
The position of the wheel can be changed to suit each driver and the seat was extremely comfy.
John let me drive around the depot to warm up before attempting the cones. Andy bravely sat in the back of the bus with his trophies and John stood next to me barking instructions, and then apologising for shouting. I must say he was a very good instructor and I felt quite confident.
you are worried or the bus appears to be going out of control, just slam your foot on the break and whack on the handbreak, said John reassuringly.
It amazing how the bus moves. The wheels are about 8ft behind the driving seat, so it turns pretty quickly.
Then it was on to the cones. Following Andy technique not using the accelerator and keeping your foot hovering above the break I set off. The bus is more than 8ft wide and the cones were halfaninch wider on each side. The trick is getting the tail action right, as the front of the bus heads for the next set of cones.
And it was great. I got through the course without knocking anything over. Success.
Then John let me drive around the depot one last time and I got to try out reverse, but I not sure how smooth the ride was. Andy was too polite to comment.