An irate Sydney bus driver has been captured flipping the bird at a motorist at a roundabout despite clearly being in the wrong — with the incident captured on dashcam footage.
The footage captured on Dash Cam Owners Australia on February 9 shows the bus driver failing to give way at a roundabout before yelling and sticking his middle finger at a nearby motorist — who had right of way.
The driver’s passenger can be heard saying: “Seriously? What about the kids in the bus?”.
Social media users were quick to slam the bus driver.
“Getting aggressive when you’re obviously in the wrong is one of the most frustrating things I see … hope that bus driver sees this video and betters himself as a human being,” one person wrote.
“Oh I’m sorry for pulling out in front of you, let me just give ya a good old professional flip of the bird,” a second wrote.
A third said: “If that is how he drives and then reacts when he has passengers on his bus then imagine how he drives when he is off work.”
Not everyone was as critical of the bus driver. Some defended him.
“After getting my MR, I can really appreciate the level of skill required to drive in city traffic and the idiots that cut off trucks/buses,” one person wrote.
“Just did two weeks’ bus driving and I gotta tell you that job is tough with all the idiots on the road.”
The bus company involved, Keolis Downer Northern Beaches, is contracted by NSW Transport.
A spokesperson told news.com.au the incident is currently “being investigated” and the company will follow “internal processes to performance manage the bus driver and ensure such incidents do not occur again”.
“Our priority is the safety of both our people and passengers.”
A NSW government taskforce into the bus industry found delays and cancellations common across Sydney in September last year.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union say staff turnover and job vacancies are a major issue as bus drivers are “fed up” with the poor pay, split shifts and long hours.
They also claim the privatisation of the bus network has added to delays.
“When they took over from state transit, the government-owned body, the sponge was dry, now they continue to squeeze the sponge and the sponge is falling apart,” Tram and Bus Division President of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union Peter Grech told 9News.