2 MTA bus drivers in won’t-yield jam
They went about this the wrong way.
Two hardheaded MTA bus drivers caused a gridlock nightmare at a busy Brooklyn intersection by getting into a heated spat during rush hour over which one had the right of way.
Video posted to Twitter shows the dueling B35 buses head to head at 13th Avenue and 39th Street in Borough Park on Thursday at around 6:35 p.m. — blocking other vehicles from passing, as well as pedestrians from using the crosswalk.
Fed-up pedestrians could be seen in the video trying to coax both drivers into backing up.
“There’s two babies driving the bus,” said the man shooting the video. “Nobody wants to back up.”
The snafu stemmed from one of the buses having to take a wide right turn onto 39th Street, thanks to a minivan that was illegally parked in a no-standing zone, according to the MTA. But the turning vehicle ran out of room to complete the maneuver — with the other bus stopped at a red light.
A shipping container parked along 39th Street meant the second bus also had no wiggle room to get through the street.
At one point, one of the drivers got out of his bus.
“How is it the right of way when the bus is here?” the driver of the turning bus railed to passersby who were trying to ease tensions.
Witnesses said the spat caused a 30-minute traffic jam, but the MTA said it only lasted 12 minutes.
One of the irate drivers tried to swipe a man’s phone from his hand as he filmed the debacle.
A third bus driver who happened to be a passenger on one of the buses eventually helped back up traffic to allow both vehicles to carry on their routes.
The MTA said both drivers involved were temporarily pulled from service and are under investigation for operational, conduct and mask violations.
The agency blamed the congestion on the illegally parked minivan and shipping container.
“While this very New York traffic jam should have been resolved more professionally, a significant cause of the gridlock appears to be an illegally parked minivan and shipping container,” MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said.
“This is an illustration of why well-enforced bus priority and street-parking regulations are so critical to the smooth operation of our buses — we will be in touch with local authorities to ensure that this is not a chronic trouble spot.”