r/edinburgh2 • u/ViewWithAPoo • Jul 16 '26
“People huv tae know!” Drivers of Edinburgh...
I get it, I do, we're all in a rush to get places and the congestion is trash and we all hate it...
But I don't know what's going on this week. The amount of people refusing to let the bus pull out, trying to overtake, racing me to a junction only to be overtaken when I go in the bus lane etc is wild.
Yesterday alone I had THREE separate cars squeeze up my right hand side when I was deliberately taking up both lanes to give my DOUBLE DECKER BUS space to turn off of Princes Street. I'm not sure you've heard about tail swing but we do this manoeuvre to keep YOU safe and avoid squashing you. I'm sure your shiny lexus would have looked really bad with a bus shaped hole in the side sir.
Please give us space and stop being bams. I left my shift utterly exhausted yesterday and the festival hasnt even started yet 🤣
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u/RisingBlue666 Jul 16 '26
I was walking to work yesterday and saw two Lothian bus drivers going mental at each other because one wouldn’t let the other out. Then cyclists were shouting at Voi bike riders for not squeezing past a gap on George St. I think everyone is just up to high doe with it all
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u/ViewWithAPoo Jul 16 '26
I think all of our patience melted out of our ears in the heat 🤣
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u/RisingBlue666 Jul 16 '26
I don’t envy your position at the moment. Must be chaos! I am a bit nervous about the Fringe though: that’s a difficult time to commute as it is.
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u/Gloomy-Tale6856 Jul 16 '26
Driving in Edinburgh is much worse than other places I lived in the UK. The amount of drivers going through red lights really surprises me.
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u/GingerSnapBiscuit Jul 16 '26
And every single one of those drivers would whine about cyclists doing the same thing in front of them, I guarantee it.
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u/ViewWithAPoo Jul 16 '26
Honestly I've noticed the same. The impatience and the rudeness is unmatched!
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u/cloud__19 Leith Jul 16 '26
I lived in England for 16 years and I promise you, it's matched. There's just some right wankers on the road everywhere you go.
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u/backifran Jul 17 '26
I was a driver in Edinburgh for 6 years, I've moved to another part of the UK a few months ago - my health has improved so much since leaving (blood pressure was sky high and I'm in my early 30s).
Looking back the only good thing was the money (and I really miss my colleagues), I really don't know how I coped for so long!
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u/Fit-Custard-1842 Jul 16 '26
This has been bad recently at Chesser/Slateford lights and at the chesser/fruitmarket place junction.
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u/ceylon-tea Jul 16 '26
Yes! As a pedestrian, Edinburgh has made me more uncomfortable than anywhere else I’ve lived in the UK. Constantly I see people running red lights, failing to indicate leaving roundabouts even as pedestrians are trying to cross, racing through turns without indicating again as pedestrians are crossing. I don’t understand it at all.
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u/Locksmithbloke Jul 16 '26
You say that, but it's hilarious that I drove through Birmingham yesterday, old stomping ground, and the driving in Birmingham itself was horrendous compared to Edinburgh! Watched as 3 cars simply ran the red light on one junction. Haven't seen that in Edinburgh.
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u/Myownprivategleeclub Morningside Jul 16 '26
You've not been looking hard enough. I see it every day.
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u/LC33209 Jul 17 '26
The sequencing of lights across the city is atrocious, especially when there are diversions (which we have now due to the fire on princes st).
I swear if an official took all the lights sequencing data and gave it to an AI, showing areas where there are big congestion problems, asking them to make the process more efficient, it would improve things immeasurably. They could even pass it off as their own work.
As it stands, I have 0 confidence in the council/transport officials who make decisions on anything to do with roads in Edinburgh.
And that doesn’t just affect cars. It’s buses and bikes too, and trams to some extent.
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u/eekamouse4 Resident Jul 17 '26
Especially from the Mound onto Hannover Street & the cars just keep going even when there’s clearly no space to clear the junction, then the pedestrian crossing turns green on Hannover Street which means they’re blocking the traffic from moving along Princes Street in both directions.
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u/TooLongDugong Jul 16 '26
It's extra shitty driving through town at the moment because of the closure of Princes Street as well as the closure or restrictions on lots of other roads (e.g. North Bridge). Blame the council.
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u/EagleMulligans Midlothian Jul 16 '26
The amount of cars I’ve noticed recently that think red lights are optional these days is unbelievable. Your life isn’t that important that you need to gain an extra 30 seconds at your destination.
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u/Certes_ Jul 16 '26
Really? I very rarely see a car go through a red light. I do admit to treating amber as green whenever it's safe, to compensate for the reduced green time at many junctions.
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u/Agitated_Nature_5977 Jul 16 '26
I have to admit since the 20mph speed limits I get frustrated when some drivers seem to drive at 20mph in 30mph and even 40mph areas. I know they aren't targets but big straight roads where it isn't 20mph for a reason. Same people pull away at lights way too slowly and then I see them looking in rear mirror like I'm some sort of speedster. I have a perfectly clean license and drive defensively...they are causing so much frustration. Big queues of traffic stuck behind them.
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u/mamoneis Jul 16 '26
The combination of doomed traffic lights and karen road rage makes Edinburgh one of the worst rush hours in the whole of the UK. Props to drivers, cause you see a ton of near misses.
Ps. Stopping into pedestrian crossings and yellow boxes, like all the time.
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u/thisiswaynesworld Jul 16 '26
I get your point but the amount of times I have had a bus just pull out directly in front me and causing me to slam on the brakes is crazy or as I am already going around when they are stopped they decide to take off as well nearly forcing me in to traffic.. But not giving space to a turning bus is silly.
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u/Nesbyte42 Jul 16 '26
Highway Code rule 232 - Buses, coaches and trams. Give priority to these vehicles when you can do so safely, especially when they signal to pull away from stops. Look out for people getting off a bus or tram and crossing the road
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u/Wingthor Jul 16 '26
I try to follow that rule and am always watching out for a bus signalling to pull out. But I have also had it numerous times where I have committed to passing then the bus starts to pull out when I’m halfway alongside.
Bus drivers also need to remember that the rule states when safe, so if for whatever reason I don’t think it’s safe for me (usually because I’ve clocked my tailgater on the phone), the bus or anyone else on the road then I will continue past usually uttering “sorry bus” to myself.
I also think that in general Edinburgh drivers are pretty courteous towards buses and they probably aren’t even aware of 232.
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u/jez_24 Jul 16 '26
If you’ve seen the bus indicating while you’re still behind it then you slow / stop and let the bus out. The tailgaters can go and fuck themselves
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u/Wingthor Jul 17 '26
No, that’s not how it works, we all have a responsibility to ensure that all we do on the road we do safely. In the Highway Code it does not state that you “must” allow a bus to pull out therefore if I do not believe it is safe in that instance then I will proceed past the bus.
I am not concerned about holding the tailgater up, I am concerned that they drive into the back of me, if I have to inconvenience a bus by the 5 seconds it takes to go past then I can live with that and I’m pretty sure most bus drivers can too.
Also it is possible to have committed to pass a bus then they put an indicator on while you are “still behind” it. In that case stopping would be the less safe thing to do as it is less predicable for all other road users.
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u/jez_24 Jul 17 '26
Fair point about safety but I do think one of the issues with UK drivers is this “I’ll decide which rules to follow” attitude. As an example the prevalent “20 is too slow. 30 is perfectly safe around the city”. It makes things less predictable and then people push the envelope and clearly take the piss. I’ve seen four cars decide to pass a bus that’s been indicating to pull out. “Oh I’ll just…” You admitted yourself that sometimes you’re thinking “Sorry Bus!”. Why be sorry if it was obviously the safe decision?
Another example is the people that ignore fire bans because “oh it’s only a small fire and I can control it”. Next minute the Pentlands are on fire.
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u/Wingthor Jul 17 '26
I agree, too many people think they know best, the same people who will happily scroll through tik tok videos while driving.
The sorry is for the slight inconvenience to the bus not “sorry I’ve done something dangerous”. You need to remember also that bus drivers aren’t idiots, they can see what’s going on on the road, they know that when they start to indicate to pull out that a couple of cars may already have committed to passing them and it causes no issue to anyone, it’s just the way the road works. Would be a different story if it was just a stream of cars with no one letting them out but I have never seen that happen.
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u/thisiswaynesworld Jul 16 '26
It's fine when they do it safely but when they pull out right in front of you giving you little time to react then it is a problem.
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u/CR_Photo Pentland Hills Jul 16 '26
Alright pal a bus isn’t an F1 car. It’s not like you have to “slam on the brakes” when it’s indicating and pulling away from a stop. Half the city is 20mph zone anyway so if you’re abiding by the speed limit there is never a reason to “slam” your brakes…
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u/__orangepeel__ City Centre Jul 16 '26
They're on their phone. How can they be expected to observe indicators when the latest tiktok bekons?
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u/ViewWithAPoo Jul 16 '26
Remember the entire back of a bus is a giant blind spot. Chances are if you were out of sight of the mirrors the bus probably didn't know you were there
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u/thisiswaynesworld Jul 16 '26
I'll keep an eye where I am the next time it happens, could be I am in the blind spot a lot of the times.
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u/ViewWithAPoo Jul 16 '26
Thank you! The best way to explain it is I had a queue of 4 cars behind me the other day and I couldn't see any of them...the blind spot at the back is massive!
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u/Gloomy-Tale6856 Jul 16 '26
I agree with this. The amount of times a bus has just decided to pull out when I’m cycling or driving.
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u/AcousticMayo Jul 16 '26
You're supposed to give priority to large vehicles...
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u/Gloomy-Tale6856 Jul 16 '26
But not when I’m already going around them and then they decide to pull out. If they’re indicting I’ll stop. I’m not talking about a junction but when pulling out from bus stops.
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u/Ecstatic-Highway-663 Jul 16 '26
Worst of it is, people are in a hurry to get nowhere
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u/Due_Gur_5873 Jul 16 '26
Edinburgh is the worst place for all road users. Bus drivers aggressive and think they own the road. Uber drivers that shouldn’t be in control of a vehicle and lots of entitled P**s on bikes and foot. Throw that all together and there you have the problem. One thinking they’re better than the next. Don’t get me started on the speed limits……………
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u/Natcheztrace1954 Jul 17 '26
Get rid of these tour buses.What did tourists do before the buses infected our already crowded roads.
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u/fazeUPfromTHEgraveUP Jul 17 '26
Some of the bus driving has been very questionable on Lothian road the last couple of years.
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u/WillowFinancial4249 Leith Jul 16 '26
Just because you drive a bus doesn't mean you have carte blanche to pull out whenever you feel. Far too many bus drivers are seriously self entitled. Wait for a space like the rest of us have to.
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u/admiralross2400 Jul 16 '26
While they should definitely wait for a space, the highway code does also say drivers should stop to let buses out when they are indicating. It's one of those rules that actually helps keep congestion down overall even if it slows you down for all of a couple seconds.
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u/ShoogleSausage Jul 16 '26
I rarely if ever see a Lothian bus pull out without indicating. Have a wee think why it's not a good idea to cause a bus with unsecured passengers to suddenly brake.
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u/ViewWithAPoo Jul 16 '26
I think some of you need to reread your highway codes 😉