A First Bus driver left shoppers scratching their heads on Saturday after accidentally steering their vehicle straight down Buchanan Street, one of Glasgow’s busiest pedestrianised shopping areas.
The bus was spotted slowly making its way along the street, which has been closed to traffic for decades and is usually packed with shoppers, street performers and people going about their day. Footage of the incident quickly spread on social media, with locals equal parts amused and bewildered at the sight.
First Bus confirmed the driver had simply taken a wrong turn, and the vehicle was moved on without any injuries or serious disruption. The company apologised for the mix-up.
Buchanan Street sits at the heart of Glasgow city centre and is one of the most recognisable streets in Scotland, drawing millions of visitors every year. Seeing a full-size bus trundling down it is not exactly an everyday occurrence, which probably explains why so many people had their phones out within seconds.
Reaction online ranged from pure disbelief to full-on comedy. Many locals joked that the driver deserved some credit for keeping calm, while others questioned how you end up on a pedestrian street in a vehicle that size without noticing fairly quickly that something has gone wrong.
To be fair to the driver, Glasgow city centre can be a maze at the best of times, with bus lanes, one-way systems and road closures regularly shifting around. Still, Buchanan Street is pretty hard to mistake for a normal road once you are on it.
First Bus said they were looking into how the wrong turn happened and would be reminding drivers of the correct routes through the city centre. No damage to street furniture or property was reported, and pedestrians managed to clear out of the way without any bother.
It is the kind of story that writes itself, and Glasgow being Glasgow, most people seemed to find it more funny than anything else. The city has a long history of taking oddities like this in its stride, and within hours the whole thing had become a running joke on local Facebook groups and Twitter feeds.
For now, Buchanan Street is back to doing what it does best, keeping cars and buses well away while the rest of the city gets on with its shopping.