Transport for London (TfL) has apologised to a cyclist after a female bus driver called him a “knob,” with the incident recorded on the rider’s helmet camera.
The incident, involving a number 119 bus operated by Metroland, took place on Katharine Street, Croydon, a little after 2pm on Saturday 12th April.
Footage uploaded to YouTube by user 4ChordsNoNet shows that the bus had cut in on him shortly beforehand on Croydon High Street.
Catching up with the bus, he stopped alongside the driver and asked: “Why did you overtake me there?”
The female driver replied: “I could get past you easy.”
“You were that close to me,” said the cyclist as he rode off.
As he did so, the driver shouted after him: “You know when you nearly killed the old bloke at the Swan & Sugar Loaf [a former pub in South Croydon – ed]? You knob.”
On the video, 4ChordsNoNet adds: “She knows that she’s being filmed, she’s in a liveried vehicle, yet she still decides to ‘have a go’ at me.”
In the ‘About’ section of the video’s page on YouTube, he says:
I contacted both TfL and the bus company direct with regard to this incident. The Depot manager came back the same day and confirmed that this standard falls far below what is expected of their drivers and that he would be speaking to the driver in question.
I am happy with this and have edited the video, blurring out the driver's face. The original video is now unlisted and will be deleted when I have heard back from TfL.
That reply from TfL read:
Thank you for your email of 15 April 2014 about a bus driver on route 119. I understand how you must have felt after this experience and appreciate your concern. Please accept my apologies.
The safety of our passengers and other road users is of paramount importance to us. It is essential that London's bus drivers promote a positive image of London Buses, as well as operating their bus safely and competently.
London's bus drivers receive comprehensive training which includes Customer Services and poor driving standards are unacceptable. In the instance you described, it would appear those training were not put into use. I have made Metrobus aware of your complaint and can assure you appropriate action will be taken.
I hope this incident does not change confidence in us and high standard you have always held our service. We work hard to maintain high standards and are confident the vast majority of London bus drivers do an excellent job. Passenger feedback is extremely valuable and I am grateful to you for bringing this to our attention.
In a reply to a comment to the video, 4ChordsNoNet said: “I've emailed the same depot before when I complimented one of their drivers on his exemplary driving, and I believe that they will take this incident seriously.
“I imagine that the depot manager will give them a right royal bollocking.”
56 thoughts on “Video: TfL apologises to cyclist after bus driver calls him a “knob” following close pass”
So what was with the Swan and
So what was with the Swan and Sugar Loaf stuff?
It appears to now be a
It appears to now be a Tesco…maybe that is what she is so angry about….that it has killed local shops for local people?
Wow, if you change the
Wow, if you change the references to London to another ‘bus company then it would be almost identical to all teh complaints I have raised….
I’ve no idea what she was on
I’ve no idea what she was on about. I’ve looked through the local papers to see if there’s been a cyclist/pedestrian incident there recently, but couldn’t find anything.
Typical close pass by an
Typical close pass by an idiot driver who doesn’t understand there was no need for the overtake in the first place anyway as the vehicle will be held up at a traffic queue at the next set of lights. It is a good example of how so many drivers cannot comprehend that driving faster in busy cities will not get them where they want to go any quicker.
The pass isn’t that bad in
The pass isn’t that bad in the way it starts, as in this one and where I find the most problems, is that as soon as the front goes past you they dive back in at a sharper than needed angle, and as demonstrated in this video the middle to back end of the bus nearly kills you.
The cyclist isn’t blameless
The cyclist isn’t blameless here. Ok, the driver made a mistake, but to deliberately carry on riding between the bus and the kerb, rather than just scrubbing off some speed, does indeed make the rider look like a knob, and a pretty dangerous knob at that.
Guys, this is the second “cyclist vs bus” vid you’ve highlighted recently, where the cyclist has exacerbated the conflict by continuing to cycle level with the bus as the space becomes ever narrower. It doesn’t really help our cause to provide media exposure to people who seem keen to escalate a driver’s error in this way.
Neil753 wrote:….where the
When is a bus actually past you?
Evo Lucas wrote:Neil753
That’s clearly a far more extreme example of bad driving __ which the bus driver conceded and apologised for.
I thought you rode well there though, good anticipation and always in control of your bike. You also handled the situation much better than the ranting “Oi!” merchant of the subject video.
Evo Lucas wrote:Neil753
I watched your vid, Evo. Yes, the bus driver was in the wrong, but I’m curious about why you, just like the other cyclist, seemed keen to ride at the same speed as the bus, preventing it from pulling back in.
I mean, what purpose does it serve?
And to be honest, maybe you should also ask yourself why you cycle so close to vehicles in front of you, why you fail to position yourself correctly when passing a stationary high sided vehicle, why you fail to stop at an amber light when your vid clearly shows that your brakes were good enough, why you fail to look behind you, and why you force a bus to come to an emergency stop in a postion that could present a hazard to other road users. Do you watch your own vids? Do you recognise the errors that I’m pointing out? I fear you don’t, because you’re trying to defend another errant cyclist, with a vid that shows you to be lacking a fair amount of care too.
Evo, you guys do a great job with your helmet cams, and catch some seriously dangerous driving, which has to be good news and I respect you for that, but maybe you could ride a little more defensively, so that at least some of these incidents can be avoided in the first place.
Neil753 wrote:… maybe you
Riding defensively doesn’t avoid these incidents, it decreases the risk of the cyclist getting hurt in them. To avoid them, drivers should not pass if they cannot pull out and back in without the vehicle (in this case the cyclist) having to brake.
Neil753 wrote:
…. seemed
Are you serious?
Neil753 wrote:you force a bus
This seems to be placing all the blame for the consequence of a crap overtake on the cyclist, not the driver, and it sounds dangerously close to ‘might is right’.
If a similar overtake/pull in manoeuvre were performed with two cars/trucks/buses whatever I doubt many people would argue that the ‘overtakee’ had ‘forced’ the overtaker into an emergency stop.
That said, while being unwilling to be bullied out of the way is not necessarily a bad thing, you do need to know when to let it go.
Neil753 wrote:The cyclist
It’s the driver’s duty to overtake safely. The driver failed. That’s the problem here.
Yes, I’d have taken evasive action earlier by slowing, but the point is that there should be no need to do so!
I’ve had two busses do this
I’ve had two busses do this to me but then decide to pull into a bus stop as I’m along side them. Generally I find bus drivers to be quite good considering how big their vehicles are, but there are a few bad eggs out there that have got through the net.
The cyclist isn’t blameless
The cyclist isn’t blameless here. Ok, the driver made a mistake, but to deliberately carry on riding between the bus and the kerb, rather than just scrubbing off some speed, does indeed make the rider look like a knob, and a pretty dangerous knob at that, a fact backed up in his video, which shows him using the full width of the road on a bend without checking behind, a failure to execise caution when passing a stationary high sided vehicle, and an extremely close pass with a pedestrian. Maybe the bus driver did indeed witness similar behaviour.
Guys, this is the second “cyclist vs bus” vid you’ve highlighted recently, where the cyclist has exacerbated the conflict by continuing to cycle level with the bus as the space becomes ever narrower. It doesn’t really help our cause to provide media exposure to people who seem keen to escalate a driver’s error in this way.
‘Knob’ is an apt description
‘Knob’ is an apt description of many a London cyclist.
I have every sympathy for London bus drivers (perhaps not this one)!
Doesnt look that bad to
Doesnt look that bad to me…as mentioned why not take some speed off as the bus passes, I would….the initial pass distance is fine.
Share the road…
NeilXDavis wrote:Doesnt look
I don’t think its the initial distance that’s the problem, its that the bus then cuts in before it completes the pass. London busses do regularly (at least in my experience) do this regularly, its almost as if the driver forgets the bus is rather long. I don’t back off or slow when a vehicle passes (doesn’t the highway code indicate that when being overtaken maintain your course and speed or some such?) but if it pulls in on me then i sure as hell do – there’s no point being squashed, but if the driver is actually any good then there is no need to slow just because they are passing you.
NeilXDavis wrote:Doesnt look
I thought I was alone in being unable to see “a close pass” in that video. The bus only began pulling back in when the front of it was well past the cyclist. At that point the bus was clearly the lead vehicle and it was the cyclist’s responsibility to moderate his speed to avoid a collision.
Cyclists do not have a mandated right to cycle at maximum speed at all times and any other vehicle that hinders them from doing so (even momentarily) is invariably *wrong*.
I think the ‘helmetcam warrior’ in this video, and in many of the other 600-odd videos he has posted on Youtube, is an angry and aggressive cyclist. He needs to learn some road manners and consideration for other road users.
I have to apply my brakes, when I would prefer not to, on almost every ride I make due to the less-than-perfect driving of others. It’s not a big deal. I don’t get angry, I don’t scream “Oi”, I don’t race after the the driver in order to confront them and I don’t record the incident or post it on Youtube. As the previous poster says “Share the road”.
Joeinpoole wrote:I thought I
X(
If you cannot complete your manoeuvre in its entirety then it is not safe to initiate it. In the case of an overtake then there must be enough time and space for you to
1) Pull out in plenty of time, further back than YOUR thinking distance
2) Move past the vehicle being overtaken leaving a good safety margin
3) Pull ahead of the vehicle being overtaken so you don’t cut in sharply taking THEIR thinking distance and then proceed pulling further ahead. All movements should be smooth and unhurried. If they’re not then it’s not safe!
I repeat, if you can’t do this then it is NOT safe to overtake! Stay behind until it is safe. What is this bollocks about the bus being the lead vehicle. It was not the lead vehicle as it was alongside. It can only be the lead vehicle if it is clearly and unambiguously in front. i.e. When it has completed the overtake in its entirety!
Any more of this and there will be no jelly and ice-cream for tea! 😀
levermonkey wrote:Joeinpoole
That might be the ideal but you might as well accept that it is not always going to happen on busy city roads where conditions can change in seconds. The traffic well in front of the bus came to a halt at the junction forcing the bus to brake before the overtaking manoeuvre was complete. What about the pedestrian that stepped into the road in front of the cyclist? Should he have been given a loud “Oi!” too?
Racing after the bus, for several hundred yards, in order to remonstrate with the driver was utterly ridiculous. No wonder so many motorists hate ‘lycra lout’ cyclists. The video poster’s behaviour on the roads, as evidenced by his own 600-odd videos on Youtube (so not an obsession then?) constitute a prime example of a lycra lout in action.
at which point you just come
at which point you just come back to if you cannot complete your manoeuvre in its entirety then it is not safe to initiate it, the bus is still “overtaking” at speed as they approach a zebra crossing, I know its london but occasionally pedestrians do use them, because although the bus then blocks most of the view you just catch sight that it has a pedestrian island refuge in the middle of the road.
Thats why the bus comes back in so far and quickly, it has to retake the road space or else hit the road furniture or the cyclist, then again they could just have accepted that they misjudged the available space, made a mistake and just rolled off the speed,maybe used the brakes and shared the road 😕
so its a badly planned overtake the changing traffic conditions make no difference to that, there was an obstacle and not enough space to complete a safe pass, and the video amply demonstrates the bus isnt going any faster than the bike anyway and the driver knows theyve got to stop by its very nature more so than any other vehicle in the city.
as for the 600 videos thing, in 2 years, is that obsessive or simply a reflection of the types of driving standards we generally see, most daily commuters generally get at least one close pass per trip, we just arent videoing them all.
Joeinpoole wrote:
That might
I agree with Awavey, it’s not that it’s the ideal, it’s written into the Highway Code (https://www.gov.uk/using-the-road-159-to-203/overtaking-162-to-169) that before overtaking you should make sure “the road is sufficiently clear ahead” and “there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake”. The next Rule states (amongst other things) that “Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should not get too close to the vehicle you intend to overtake; move quickly past the vehicle you are overtaking, once you have started to overtake. Allow plenty of room. Move back to the left as soon as you can but do not cut in; give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car”.
If the traffic conditions are so changeable, shouldn’t the bus driver just wait? If he can only pull up beside the cyclist, he is not gaining any kind of advantage by overtaking him, just performing a manoeuvre badly and pointlessly that could endanger another persons life.
Pedestrians who step onto the road without looking or considering a bike worth stopping for probably deserve to know it’s dangerous, not too sure if “Oi” is the best phrase for that though.
I guess chasing after the driver can be taken two ways, that he was looking for trouble and an idiot or that he wanted to try and let the bus driver know it was a bad overtake and to think before doing it again. Everyone will have heard the quote by Burke ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing’, if we just let bad drivers continue to drive badly, that situation could happen to another person who is less comfortable with a bus driving next to them, or the driver may next time mis-judge it worse and have to swing over more to avoid road furniture. I guess at least this way, there is a chance that the driver may think twice before pulling the same overtake, especially after it was reported and posted on YouTube.
Joeinpoole wrote:I thought I
Where the bloody hell in any road traffic guidance do you find this recommendation?
The duty is on the passing vehicle, solely.
According to you, cutting in is just fine.
jacknorell wrote:Joeinpoole
Yes, yes, yes. In the perfect world that you obviously inhabit nobody uses their mobile phones whilst driving … and everybody obeys the speed limit … and nobody makes minor misjudgements of the situation they find themselves in … and *everything* is perfect really.
Unfortunately those aren’t the roads that I drive on, where drivers *are* actually fallible, so therefore I *do* have to take allowance of that and moderate my own actions to take account of that.
There’s no point in getting your knickers in a twist over that particular bus driver’s minor infraction, when you have plenty of time to take avoiding action yourself. Just deal with it and ride on. Share the fucking road and stop being a cycling tosser who thinks you own the road and no other road user should *ever* cause you to apply your brakes.
Joeinpoole wrote:
Yes, yes,
I think you may be trivialising the bad overtake by calling it a “minor infraction”, I know no one is perfect but out of the first Rule I quoted, he ignored 2 out of three points, and on the second ignored at least 3. There’s another Rule (167) which states amongst others: “DO NOT overtake where you might come into conflict with other road users. For example when you would force another road user to swerve or slow down”.
By ignoring those rules, forcing an overtake for no gain, the driver was putting the cyclists’s life at risk, I suppose sometimes close or bad overtakes get people’s knickers in a twist due to the near death experience, whether real or perceived.
If you can’t see that the bus driver was in the wrong, dangerously so, then I guess your mind is clearly made up already. And if you can accept that it was dangerous, you can then probably understand why the guy chased after the bus to try and make that point.
4ChordsNoNet has stated it was more the insult afterwards so I guess a lot of this is moot. But if you say that people are fallible and make mistakes (which I agree with), if someone points one out to you, maybe just hold your hands up and say sorry instead of insulting them?
Joeinpoole wrote:jacknorell
Yes, yes, yes. In the perfect world that you obviously inhabit nobody uses their mobile phones whilst driving … and everybody obeys the speed limit … and nobody makes minor misjudgements of the situation they find themselves in … and *everything* is perfect really.
Unfortunately those aren’t the roads that I drive on, where drivers *are* actually fallible, so therefore I *do* have to take allowance of that and moderate my own actions to take account of that.
There’s no point in getting your knickers in a twist over that particular bus driver’s minor infraction, when you have plenty of time to take avoiding action yourself. Just deal with it and ride on. Share the fucking road and stop being a cycling tosser who thinks you own the road and no other road user should *ever* cause you to apply your brakes.— Joeinpoole
What a resoundingly stupid comment.
The point, that you clearly seem to be missing, is the overtake was unsafe, it should never have been made in the first instance.
By your logic you wouldn’t mind at all if you got carved up on every round about or had the front of your car clipped by a driver making a “small infraction”, maybe you wouldn’t mind if your children got run over by a motorist that was driving a little bit too fast and couldn’t stop, I guess you’d just “deal with it”?
Get your head out your arse.
So might is right? If a big
So might is right? If a big vehicle tries to pass you where there isn’t enough space, drop back and slow down? f**k that
There may be circumstances
There may be circumstances when we(road users) have to take evasive action because drivers are dangerous and/or incompetent but it shouldnt be the expectation.
Usual victim blaming from the haulage association rep.
Joeinpoole- are seriously
Joeinpoole- are seriously suggesting only the cab needs to pass whatevers being overtaken?
IanW1968 wrote:Joeinpoole-
I’m saying that once the bus is clearly in front of you then, if you have any common sense, you should ride defensively and concede a little speed if necessary to ensure the overtaking manoeuvre is completed as quickly as practical.
All the time you are alongside the bus you are in a highly vulnerable position and may also be in the driver’s ‘blind spot’. What if the bus suddenly swerves left for example, perhaps to avoid a pedestrian or a child?
Sure, you *can* fight with the bus and demand your *right* to maintain your speed for as long as possible. Unfortunately, if something goes wrong then the cyclist will most definitely be the loser in any subsequent collision. At least you’ll be able to have “I was in the right” engraved on your headstone.
I really don’t understand why our ‘helmetcam warrior’ is so angry all the time. Whenever I’m cycling I’m always in a good and generous mood. It’s the exhilaration of the ride and the endorphins from the exercise that invariably put a smile on my face. So what if I have to slow down a little occasionally? That just means that I’ll get a bit more exercise when I accelerate back up to speed again. Good!
Joeinpoole wrote:I’m saying
Surely “clearly in front” is exactly what it says — the whole bus, in front. Rather than “mostly alongside”. If the bus driver can’t pass something, anything, without having to pull back in while the something is still alongside, then they shouldn’t have passed there.
I did scrub off some speed as
I did scrub off some speed as the bus past me, and was ready to slam on the anchors or jump ship if things got too bad. As others have said, just because the bus is much bigger than me doesn’t mean it can bully its way past.
Why should cyclist have to
Why should cyclist have to scrub off speed if there was enough room to complete the overtake without causing the other road user to swerve or brake? If they have to swerve or brake, then the overtake was not a safe one.
Strange, if this was done on the motorist it would be called “cutting someone up” or some cases “crash for cash”. Resulting in cameras being fitted to vehicles to prove the who was not at fault. If it’s done on a cyclist it’s the cyclist at fault in some peoples eyes.
Hmm, look forward to cutting a HGV up on the motorway and after the crash claiming that he should have slowed down to avoid me. NOT!
Come on cyclists join me in riding down the middle of the road so that no-one can endanger our lives. Instead of this considerate riding through the glass and gravel in the gutter whilst trying not to hold traffic up. Let us show the buses, the hgvs, the reps….. that their time is worth less than our lives and we don’t care if they are late as long as we are alive. As long as you are wearing a helmet, day-glo and reflectives and have 20 million candle power lights, they can not touch you. Together we can slow the country down and stop the senseless killing.
Oh dear the drugs have worn off! 8}
@4chordsnonet.
If you say you
@4chordsnonet.
If you say you were ready to brake, you clearly took the decision not to brake, so exacerbating the conflict. Maybe the driver made a mistake, but once the bus driver has committed to overtake, why not just allow the bus to quickly pass and just accept the loss of a few seconds added to your journey.
I don’t know you, but many of your videos reveal a lack of observation, innapropriate speed, poor anticipation, and an apparent enthusiasm to up the ante; which doesn’t really help the situation we face as cyclists.
Helmet cams can be a good thing, so maybe you could do some vids that demonstrate your skill in defensive riding, which some of you guys are posting already and are both helpful and enjoyable to watch.
Only time I have ever thought
Only time I have ever thought someone was deliberately trying to kill me was a bus in South London. Deliberately squeezed me into railings.
It is entirely good for bus drivers to think they are being filmed.
I ride in London pretty much
I ride in London pretty much every day and I’ve lost count of the number of time this has happened to me. I have this theory that bus drivers think you become stationary as soon as they pass you, therefore it’s ok to cut in straight away.
kobacom wrote:I ride in
Whenever I ride to my girlfriends, I’ll cross on Waterloo Bridge and will always get cab drivers cutting from the right hand lane to the left in a dangerous manner. It’s always the case that there is no reason for them to either leave the right hand lane, nor to cut so violently into my path, but it always happens.
When I’ve caught up with them at the junction of the Strand and asked why they did it, they look at me blankly with absolutely no recollection of what they just did before exploding into expletive and derisory comments.
I just see it that the vast majority of people who use the roads are complete fucking idiots.
I note a long debate here
I note a long debate here about exactly what the cyclist should or should not have been doing. However. the central issue is that the bus driver has not driven in the way a professional in charge of a massive vehicle on London streets should conduct themselves – not least the verbal abuse given. That’s why an official apology has been given.
What interests me is that this is highly unlikely to be the only time this happens – the vast majority of cyclists do not have helmet cameras, after all.
The first need is for better training and disciplining of bus drivers, as well as a close look at the regime governing health and safety with regard to buses in London. Do take a look at Tom Kearney’s web site here – it is mainly about Oxford Street but also buses in London as a whole.
For the record, I reckon London bus drivers are far better than the average motorist – but they are in charge f a massive vehicle with massive lethal potential, so need appropriate regulation.
Quote:I thought I was alone
I think you’ve just invented a new rule of the road.
If you’re overtaking in a vehicle, you do need to get the whole vehicle safely past a cyclist, not just part.
Why should he have been
Why should he have been forced to slow…yes he should of for his safety but at no time is it his responsibility that this situation occurred.
Loving the helmet cams now, next purchase I think.
And the apologies mean nothing if it’s not from the individual that caused the problem. It’s just a company doing the PR thing..it’s worthless. Driver should be fined and get points for endangering a member of the public. Shame we got rid of the duelling law B-)
Rule 168. Being overtaken. If
Rule 168. Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass.
How on earth did you find
How on earth did you find this item?
the apologies mean nothing if
the apologies mean nothing if it’s not from the individual that caused the problem
Correct. The driver would just say “I didn’t apologise because there was nothing to apologise for”, there would be no record and if someone else complained about the same driver it’s likely the company would protect the driver by deliberately not linking the 2 incidents.
I’m as militant on close-passing as anyone here, and considerably more diligent than most in trying to reform the b*****d police. However, I wouldn’t have bothered to submit this video because it was a slow pass.
Remind me, don’t London buses
Remind me, don’t London buses kill or seriously injure on average 2 people a day in London ?
I think they could be driven with a lot more care and attention in my experience.
The fact that we have so many
The fact that we have so many cyclists defending a bus driver’s very poor overtake is astounding. Or that people are saying it’s the cyclist’s fault the bus had to [pick whatever excuse…] which endangered the cyclist.
You lot should know what a safe, and legal, overtaking maneouvre looks like.
After all, our lives may depend on it, or be lost due to a failure to execute one.
Those of you who thought there was no problem with the overtaking, please surrender your licenses?
The main reason I uploaded
The main reason I uploaded the video and complained to both Metrobus and TFL was not the overtake but her insult afterwards. I’ve been called a lot worse and just let it go, but a professional driver in a company vehicle, part funded out of my Council tax, should not act like that. After our ‘chat’ when I cycled off, if she’d said nothing more, the video probably would not have seen the light of day, but to lean out of the bus like that and shout as she did, I felt was not very professional.
I’m not perfect, no one is, I’m still learning at the age of 53, but if the same thing happened again I doubt that I’d do much different. I did slow down, I did apply my brakes, but was ready to pull up sharply if the need arises.
So to sum up,
There are the
So to sum up,
There are the professional drivers who seemingly disregard the Highway Code and Traffic Laws by stating that the cyclist is at fault as he did not allow the bus to complete a possibly dangerous overtake by not slowing down.
The rest of us who are constantly being reminded by the above lot about what the Highway Code say’s i.e. red lights etc, maitain the bus driver’s actions were wrong in accordance with the Highway Code.
The poor sod who took the footage and seemingly was more annoyed at being called a “knob” then the overtake.
And on another thread, UKBA are getting slammed for another persons cock-up.
Don’t ya just love the net!
And summing up from the
And summing up from the “other side”.
I don’t think anyone should be judging this driver too harshly. Sometimes feelings run a little high. Sure, she made a mistake, but she’s being confronted with an aggressive cyclist who she’s apparently seen nearly killing some old guy, and we can see from the vid that the cyclist is riding without much skill (clipping the apex of a right hand bend without a safety check, a close pass of a pedestrian, failure to use brakes, etc), so it’s likely that she’s been watching his behaviour too. I’m not surprised she called him a knob, even though she shouldn’t have done so.
The thing is, if people stumble across this forum, watch the video, and then read all these comments that condemn the bus driver whilst refusing to acknowledge any of the poor cycling, then it just makes cyclists out to be an arrogant bunch of (dare I say it) knobs.
Road.cc, if you’re going to run these contentious stories, at least check the video carefully to see if the cyclist is committing just as many errors as the driver they’re trying to vilify, because if they are then it doesn’t place us in a very good light.
Neil753 wrote:And summing up
No matter how many errors a cyclist makes, there is no justification in endangering their life, that’s the bottom line really. He could jump lights, ride on the pavement, weave through traffic etc, all bad riding and should be fined but it does not give anyone the right or excuse to pass them without being appropriately cautious.
The driver is a professional driver and should know how to overtake. Maybe they made a mistake (a dangerous one), but when confronted, they should have owned up to that mistake and not insulted the cyclist.
Neil753 wrote:but she’s being
And your evidence for this is…what, exactly?
Personally, in the absence of any other evidence, it sounds to me like the usual collective blame rubbish that too many motorists love so much. The guy could, with the same logic, shout back “what about the nearly 2000 people you killed last year!”.
Headline news,
And today,
Headline news,
And today, another bus driver was pulled dead from underneath a road bike after a cyclist in overtook the bus. Witnesses claim the bus was going too quickly for the cyclist to keep on so the cyclist ran the bus down whilst turning left. The driver family say he was a “lovely person, loved by everyone and will be much missed.” Both police and bus companies say that the senseless killings for just a few seconds must stop.
In another part of the country, a car driver was killed in a hit and run involving a time trial bike. The time trail bike failled to stop at the scene and was last seen heading towards Wigan. This was in the same spot where Sir Bradley Wiggins pulled out of a garage forecourt on his road bike and ran over a Porsche. The Porsche driver still suffers from those injuries. Police are appealling for any witnesses. Traces of sky blue and black lycra were found at the scene. But they will not say if the two incidents are linked.
Meanwhile on the M25, there was a 15 bicycle pile up after one was seen swerving as it’s rear tyre blew out. The road was closed for several hours as the ambulance trykes had difficulty reaching the scene and carbon fibre had to be cleared away. No serious injuries were reported but a cyclist was seen screaming about the smashed BMW that was on the back of his bike. Another was seen sobbing into his Rapha water bottle which had lost it’s bottom. Footage of the crash, taken by cyclists on the opposite side slowing down to have look, is all over You Tube. Police say this dangerous a repeat the request that cyclists don’t slow down if they are on the other side of such busy roads. Also anyone seen using a mobile phone whilst cycling will be dealt with.
I can only say I think both
I can only say I think both Joeinpoole’s novel idea for a new highway code rule (“once your bumper is 1cm ahead of that of the vehicle you are overtaking you are entitled to sideswipe them off the road and its their fault for not screeching to a halt fast enough”) and Neil753’s comments are entirely mistaken.
I do, though, feel oddly amused at the mildness of the bus-driver’s choice of epiphet. Not the greatest driver ever, but doesn’t sound like vulgarity comes naturally to her. White van man would have used a stronger term, I reckon.
Something tells me that there
Something tells me that there are a fair few people here who’ll also say that this close pass by a bus was because I failed to do an emergency stop as soon as they got 1cm in front of me.
I’m coming round to the idea
I’m coming round to the idea of helmet cams on bikes, and in some situations, posting on youtube if the behavior is particularly dangerous or illegal
But stuff like this (‘she called me a knob after i caught her up to have a go at her when she passed me too close for my liking’!) just brings it into disrepute I feel and compromises legitimate, serious safety concerns. ‘We’ (cyclists) will just be seen as whinging, antagonistic & uncompromising – especially if you read some of the comments on here – as Neil753 has also observed.
The pass wasn’t particularly close, it’s a busy urban environment where you’re likely to have to start/ stop all the time. Even cyclists have to do this! So I don’t think this was anything to get exercised about. If you reckon that’s close and are so outraged, I really would not recommend cycling in a town or city. Ever!