Well, I Was Running Late...

It's a fairly common scenario. You miss the bus and you're running late, so you just hop into the car and drive yourself there instead.

Well, if you're an adult, that is. If you're six years old, maybe not so much.

One such boy in Northumberland County, Virginia, felt that was the best way to avoid missing breakfast and early morning PE at school. He made it almost six miles, running off the road several times, before hitting a pole. He then got out of the car and continued his journey on foot, more concerned with being late than having crashed the car.

He told police that he'd learned to drive by playing (among other things) Grand Theft Auto.

His parents, who were asleep at the time, have both been charged, and the boy and his younger brother are now in care. Looks like staying in bed while your 6-year-old sends himself to school in the morning, and allowing him to play GTA, kinda clashes with the child protection authorities' ideals.

~ Elisa

Inconspicuous Vehicle

If you really, really want to get across town to see your girlfriend, and you haven't got your own car, how do you get there? Train? Nah. Steal your own set of wheels. And, to blend in with the traffic, how about a small, ordinary car?

No way. You take a bright red double-decker bus.

And in the interests of safety, make sure you're drunk.

Also, keep yourself well-hidden, by going shopping in your bus.

Police in the UK intercepted a 17-year-old on such a mission recently, and he was caught not because he crashed the bus, picked up passengers, blocked traffic or caused danger - but because he stopped at a service station trying to buy cigarettes, and asked for them to be put on the account of the bus company.

What's more, he'd only just been released 12 hours earlier, for stealing... another bus. The first time he was also drunk, managing to drive the wrong way through a roundabout, then cruising through a fence.

Ah, to be young and carefree again.

~ Elisa

Diplomacy at its finest

So if you're a bus driver, and one of your passengers leaves a filthy, disgusting and foul mess on a seat, how would you deal with that? Maybe ask them to clean it up? If that fails, I suppose you could report the incident to police, then go at the mess yourself with a sponge and bucket?

Naw, where's the fun in that? And besides, what if it was just kids, and it was just a few cookie crumbs? I mean, that's hardly difficult to clean, or stinky, or messy, right? Well, if you're today's star bus driver, you stick a knife in their faces and threaten to slash their wrists.

Driver threatened students over crumbs

Thanks to the Miami Herald.

~ Elisa

Not Another Bus Thief

A 13-year-old Beijing boy commandeered a city bus recently, going on a wild joyride that left a trail of smashed cars and other damage.

The driver returned from the bathroom at a transport terminal in eastern Beijing, only to find his bus gone.

But unlike the boy who pulled into a shop for cigarettes, this kid was presumably sober. And not only that, he knocked down two power poles and smashed into TWELVE cars on his journey. One of the cars was thrown through a building's front door.

This kid didn't stop until bystanders managed to kick the bus door in and grab him. And what did he have to say about the adventure? Nothing...

full story at News.com.au

Where Is My Bus?

The Chicago Transit Authority has a website called Bus Tracker, which allows surfers to keep an eye on where buses are on a map, and when they're expected to arrive at each stop. I'd imagine this would be great for the impatient Chicago traveller who realises a bus is overdue, who checks the site with a mobile phone.

What surprised the CTA, however, wasn't how popular the site has become. It's who is clicking in that surprised them. They've recorded more than 15,000 hits in just over a month from - Norweigians.

And what's more, three-quarters of them hang around for more than 15 minutes!

Them Scandinavians have some weird habits...