Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Not sure if worth reporting to Company, never happened to me before? (Video)

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

Add new comment

13 comments

Avatar
bashthebox | 9 years ago
0 likes

Apologies, I was a little harsh to you there, my thanks for your measured response. I'm still not entirely sure what uploading every near miss to youtube achieves though? Obviously us cyclists might watch it, and go "oh bloody hell, another bad driver" but what else? In this instance you've something to show the police, and I'd be interested by their response - but I'd be fairly certain they would dismiss it as being nothing to get too excited about. It's normalised driver behaviour, i guess.

Avatar
userfriendly replied to bashthebox | 9 years ago
0 likes
bashthebox wrote:

I'd be fairly certain they would dismiss it as being nothing to get too excited about. It's normalised driver behaviour, i guess.

Which is precisely why it needs to be highlighted as unacceptable more often. It's the only way this is ever going to change.

Avatar
adrianoconnor | 9 years ago
0 likes

I think bus drivers (and other professional drivers) need to be held to the very highest standard, so even though we do see this kind of thing far too often, and maybe that does make it a 'nothing kind of thing', the fact that it's a bus (in my mind) does make it absolutely unacceptable, and the bus company are right to at least investigate and hopefully provide the driver with some guidance.

Most bus, lorry and taxi drivers are among the best drivers on the road. This bus driver is either not a great driver, or maybe he was just having a bad day.

Drivers (and cyclists) who let themselves get annoyed and then behave erratically are dangerous. The maneuver in this video was dangerous.

As for whether the bus driver had any right to be angry... well, roads are for bikes too, even when there are cycle paths, and cycle paths are no place to be doing 20+ mph. Apart from not wanting to be a danger to slower users of the cycle paths, drivers need to realise that those paths are interrupted by side roads (where the road has right of way), veer off towards canals and bridleways, and sometimes stop abruptly in the most inconvenient places, making it really quite tricky to actually get back on to the road (safely) and get going again. I hardly ever use cycle paths, and luckily most drivers don't seem to mind sharing the road with me. The odd beep I do get (happens once every few months, usually with a driver pointing wildly at the cycle path) I just let it go and don't let it bother me.

Avatar
Sevenfold | 9 years ago
0 likes

Just a quick question - what camera are you using? I am now very seriously thinking of getting one based on my commute this morning with a tipper lorry overtaking me forcing an on-coming car to make an emergency stop to avoid a collision...

Avatar
Skybird replied to Sevenfold | 9 years ago
0 likes
Sevenfold wrote:

Just a quick question - what camera are you using? I am now very seriously thinking of getting one based on my commute this morning with a tipper lorry overtaking me forcing an on-coming car to make an emergency stop to avoid a collision...

I use a GoPro Hero 3+ Black - on a helmet mount, so it looks where I look. I have a mount for the handlebars, but that can often miss close passes or tailgating. I edit in Final Cut Pro X - badly, as you can probably tell, not an experienced user, but at 1080p Superview and 120 FPS, the footage is pretty clear, and enables zooming and slowing. I know there has been at least one critical comment saying it's nothing to report, but that was kind of my question in the first place. I think I was more annoyed with the driver as I don't see what I did wrong, if anything.

Avatar
bashthebox | 9 years ago
0 likes

Jesus. Ok I can see the reason people ride with cams - if there's a need for evidence in the case of an accident, all good. But to post up little barely anything events like this every time you ride - christ. Seriously, nothing better to do? It's not going to change driver behaviour, it's not going to result in a prosecution. All it does is make people think cyclists are boring nobbers.

Avatar
7thGalaxy replied to bashthebox | 9 years ago
0 likes

Actually I think that this is a great way to make our roads safer.

At the least there should be a disciplinary for the driver. If this is the first time then leave it at that, maybe with a bit of training & closer observation.

If he's a multiple offender, then he shouldn't be driving busses.

Putting pressure on road users to share and be aware of the space can never be a bad thing.

Avatar
userfriendly replied to bashthebox | 9 years ago
0 likes
bashthebox wrote:

Jesus. Ok I can see the reason people ride with cams - if there's a need for evidence in the case of an accident, all good. But to post up little barely anything events like this every time you ride - christ. Seriously, nothing better to do? It's not going to change driver behaviour, it's not going to result in a prosecution. All it does is make people think cyclists are boring nobbers.

It does make some people think that, yes. It also makes other, more reasonable people more aware of how much more cyclists - that includes you, I presume - are being put at serious risk by irresponsible road use.

And this "little barely anything event" as you call it was yet another example of an unnecessary unsafe manoeuvre performed by a professional driver who should know better, who would have had a perfectly safe overtake opportunity a mere few seconds later, and who's being rude about it, just to top it off.

That guy is the same kind of person as the van driver yesterday evening who, after cutting me off at a roundabout, stopped and got out of his vehicle to push me off my bike onto the road. A "little barely anything event" that I'm glad I've got on camera, because I'll be showing it to my friendly local police officers when they pop round this afternoon.

Avatar
Daveyraveygravey replied to bashthebox | 9 years ago
0 likes
bashthebox wrote:

Jesus. Ok I can see the reason people ride with cams - if there's a need for evidence in the case of an accident, all good. But to post up little barely anything events like this every time you ride - christ. Seriously, nothing better to do? It's not going to change driver behaviour, it's not going to result in a prosecution. All it does is make people think cyclists are boring nobbers.

I can't believe I'm reading this, do you ride a bike on roads? The driver was making the wanker sign at him, just because he was riding a bike?! Never mind the closeness of the pass, the forcing the oncoming Land Rover almost off the road, the fact that he is paid to do a job and yet behaves like that?!

I disagree that it is not going to change driver behaviour. He shouldn't be driving, and if his company throw the book at him, that's a good thing. And the more publicity incidents like this get (and the one where the car turned across the cyclist) the better. So many of us (and yes I am guilty of it too) get behind the wheel of our two ton tanks and don't concentrate, don't treat the act of driving with the care or thought we should, we all need a wake up call.

Avatar
jollygoodvelo | 9 years ago
0 likes

Clearly the driver is a knobber.

But, two things. Firstly, I see driving far, far worse than that every single day in London. And secondly, I'm the first to defend cyclists' right to use roads. But that cycle path looks really rather nice?

Avatar
Skybird replied to jollygoodvelo | 9 years ago
0 likes
Gizmo_ wrote:

Clearly the driver is a knobber.

But, two things. Firstly, I see driving far, far worse than that every single day in London. And secondly, I'm the first to defend cyclists' right to use roads. But that cycle path looks really rather nice?

Good point! And I did spot it, but I didn't use it for two reasons - a) I was following a specific Garmin route that I had created, and the cycle path deviates from it at the next right turn and b) it seemed to be full of schoolchildren at the time, and I wasn't sure it was a good idea barreling through them at 20mph!

Avatar
Redvee | 9 years ago
0 likes

Always worth making the company aware of bad driving. Some companies take action, some ignore it.
Somebody has already tweeted the video link and mentioned the company's twitter handle so they'll see it  40

Avatar
Skybird replied to Redvee | 9 years ago
0 likes

Yes, thanks - to be fair the Company has already responded saying they are going to investigate.

Latest Comments