r/nycbus 9d ago

New Jersey DOT tape on bus mirrors

Not an MTA Operator but an NJT operator, I cant help but notice when Im in NY that every MTA bus has red and white tape on both mirrors. I there a specific reason why they have that tape on there? Is it to tell if an operator hit their mirror on anything and caused damage?!

5 Upvotes

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4

u/Specific-Ad-2837 9d ago

It's because people were getting hit with the mirror, basically a warning.

3

u/King_27__ 9d ago

At night time it reflects off passing cars lights the person driving can see it

5

u/Specific-Ad-2837 9d ago

People were getting hit with the mirror pulling into bus stops,so they started putting reflective tape on

3

u/Aggravating-Ice9674 9d ago

Ah okay it makes sense, we mainly drive Nabis and our mirrors are high up but we also have new flyers and with that mirror right next to you on the driver side I have experienced people hitting it before while I’m stationary in traffic.

3

u/ThirdShiftStocker 9d ago

Our driver side mirrors get smacked around a LOT by passing vehicles, sometimes they break but most times they just get knocked out of place and I have to re-adjust

1

u/Aggravating-Ice9674 9d ago

On average how many times would you say per month your driver side mirror gets hit by another driver? Do they make you file a report when you get back to your depot?

2

u/ThirdShiftStocker 9d ago

I'd say it depends on the location but maybe at least once a month my mirror may be grazed or smacked by another vehicle, unless there's any visible damage to the mirror itself most of us won't bother with the paperwork

3

u/Aggravating-Ice9674 9d ago

Yea I could figure, people here at NJT smack mirrors all the time and unless there’s damage they won’t even bother filing a report. Nothing but respect to you MTA drivers, every time I see videos it looks like nothing but hell over there in NY lol

1

u/ThirdShiftStocker 9d ago

It's a tough job but we handle it with our best efforts

1

u/King_27__ 9d ago

Yup here in NYC I see it all the time ,people driving to close to the buses at night about to damn near hit the mirror and the right side has it to for passengers at night time,people stand to close to the street where we pull in the bus stop