Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[Quackdave]

RE: Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

(26/09/2018 09:22)MPTE1955 Wrote:  This aside though that the driver didn't know the route etc, surely he should be aware of what he is driving and should be able to judge if his vehicle will fit under a bridge. Its not like the height of the bus isn't in his cab.

The height of bridges can be deceptive, and, considering that just about anywhere else in this country the driver of a large vehicle can legitimately assume an unsigned bridge to be at least 16' 6" (*), I don't think the driver should have been expected to know that the bus wouldn't fit. It would be different if they'd passed a warning sign, but I'm almost certain there aren't any.

It does look as though there's a no-right-turn sign at that junction; but then, it looks as though there's also one at the junction where the driver was actually supposed to turn right onto the busway! And I think it's fair to say that Runcorn is the sort of town where a lot of junctions look very similar.

(*) I know this figure well, having once believed, albeit only for a few seconds, that I'd de-roofed an Oxford Bus Company Leyland Olympian.

Driving instructor: How tall's this bus?
Me: Thirteen foot eight.
Instructor: How high's that bridge?
Me: Well it must be at least sixteen foot six, 'cos there's no signs.
Instructor: Are you sure? Don't you think you'd better...
[CRASH BANG CLATTER....]

Of course I pretty much stood the Olympian on its nose, and, as I contemplated the end of my brief driving career, I dimly wondered why the banging noises were still happening... at which point I looked around to find my instructor playing percussion on the back of the cab