Timing is everything. Especially when safety's involved.

Transport for London (TfL) is that lesson the hard – but hilarious – way.

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Londoners are going crazy over announcements telling them to "hold on" in the city's buses. The full message, which says "hold on, the bus is about to move". was installed over the week-end of 13-14 January. However, people are mocking the new safety initiative, which is the victim of a cringe-worthy glitch: It can only be heard once the bus is already moving.

The road to commuting hell is paved with good intentions. TfL introduced these new safety announcements to prevent people from injuring themselves on buses. Some 3,000 people fell while onboard buses in 2017, it told the BBC. But they admit they might not "have got the timing right yet".

Meanwhile, Londoners are cringing over the new system and sending their thoughts to TfL's Twitter account.

Nathan Wade, who shared the following video on Twitter, said he doubted the announcement would help with bus safety. He told the BBC: "I do have sympathy for people that have been injured on the bus. I don't think telling passengers to 'Please hold on, the bus is about to move' is going to help with that, even if the timing issue could be resolved."

However, others pointed out that a corrected use of the announcement could greatly improve their journey.

Some relished in the poetic irony of it all:

But mostly they just mocked the whole initiative and illustrated how ineffective it was.

"Passenger safety is our top priority so we've been trialling this announcement to assess if it helps reduce the number of people hurt ‎in slips and falls," said TfL's Director of Bus Operations Claire Mann. "Clearly there are some adjustments we need to make and we're working on that now. We will carefully monitor the trial to see how effective it is in reducing injuries," she added.

London's commuters will then have to make like Wilson Phillips and "hold on" until the correct adjustments are made.

London Twitter