All of Team Sky’s drivers will take safety refresher courses this winter following an incident earlier in the week when a cyclist suffered an extremely close pass by one of their vehicles.
The driver responsible, Claudio Lucchini, is said to be deeply upset about what the team is calling an error of judgement. In a video posted to Twitter by Andy Rolfe from Rhosllannerchrugog, near Wrexham, Lucchini’s huge vehicle can be seen overtaking on a narrow country road despite an oncoming fuel tanker.
Team Sky immediately apologised and since then team boss Sir Dave Brailsford has spoken to The Cycling Podcast about the incident.
“It is an important issue and firstly, we absolutely apologise to the rider in question. Secondly, we will look at it internally. I’ve spoken to Claudio myself and we had a chat about it and he is really upset about it.
“He said he had already passed hundreds of cyclists on those narrow Welsh roads but sometimes people make errors. It obviously shocked the rider and scared him, and we don’t want that.
“We’re all cyclists and so is Claudio. We want to promote safety on the roads for all cyclists and we’re trying to increase participation in the sport. So it’s important for us to set a good example, particularly given all the vehicles we have on the road.”
The Press Association reports that Rolfe declined an offer to join Sky as their guest at one of the remaining stages of the Tour of Britain, but he is being sent some kit and a written apology from Lucchini.
All Team Sky drivers will do a driver safety course at the end of the season and the whole team has been warned to set a good example on the road.
Rolfe has since tweeted: “Thanks to everyone who has supported my post, a lot of positive feedback, Team Sky have apologised, I just want motorists to be more patient.”
37 thoughts on “Team Sky drivers to take safety course after close pass of cyclist in Wales”
Well that was a happy
Well that was a happy resolution. I am sure an apology will satisfy everyone on the internet that the issue is settled. Drive and ride safe, kids.
Leviathan wrote:
Obligatory Futurama Reference
Another question worth asking: why are left-hand-drive coaches (and HGVs or any long and heavy vehicle) even allowed on narrow country roads in right-hand-drive countries (and vice versa)? It means the drivers cannot see oncoming traffic early enough to make safe overtakes and, when that gets them in trouble, it gives them overconfidence that they can pass too close to cyclists, rather than slamming on the brakes as they would probably do if they were sitting a couple of meters to the right. Of course, I know the answer why they aren’t banned: commerce. But with modern GPS technology they could at least be restricted to slower speeds. Team Sky would have to buy or rent a different coach just for British races (which they presumably do for the Tour Down Under) but they can afford it. As could the tourism and haulage industries, but you can be sure they’d lobby like crazy against it.
handlebarcam wrote:
Of course they’d lobby against it. You’d end up with a blanket ban of all those irritiating British coaches and lorries over here in Europeland. IF you honestly think a LHD vehicle can’t see to overtake a cyclist properly you’ve got a screw loose. Whether Claudio does this regularly or not, he couldn’t have failed to see the road ahead if he was paying attention. The thing is that he wasn’t.
What a load of bolxs!
What a load of bolxs!
The drivers sorry his been caught out this time, it’s gone straight into the media. The worst case is this his cushy lifestyle is threatened.
As for a safety course, take the drivers to an airfield, make them ride at a steady 10-15mph whilst one of their fellow drivers pass feet away at 60 mph. Quick simple and effective.
Yorkshie Whippet wrote:
Have corrected your post.
Yorkshie Whippet wrote:
Well the cyclist involved seemed to be happy with the outcome (he tweeted as such) and I’m fairly sure it’s a far better outcome than you’d have got from the average bus company or from Tescos.
So if the rider is happy and Team Sky are happy and have acted appropriately, I’m sure the internet hardmen can now stand down?
crazy-legs wrote:
Crime and punishment isn’t about making a victim ‘happy’, or something about appeasing ‘internet hardmen’ (wasn’t aware people were asking the driver for a punchup – who knew! ).
Crime is an offense against the state and according to jurisprudence, is supposed to be applied to all citizens.
Was catching up on the WM Police blog just now and spotted this:
To which they commented: Expect prosecution, not education for anything of this standard !
Maybe the WM Police should stop acting like hardmen though.
unconstituted wrote:
Crime and punishment isn’t about making a victim ‘happy’, or something about appeasing ‘internet hardmen’ (wasn’t aware people were asking the driver for a punchup – who knew! ).
Crime is an offense against the state and according to jurisprudence, is supposed to be applied to all citizens.
[/quote]
Punishment is society’s revenge, and does not change behaviour. If the driver has been brought to book by his employers, and has changed his driving and will not do it again, what is the point of revenge?
crazy-legs wrote:
I’d have accepted the apology and the offer of a guest place on the ToB. I think all the baying for blood is a bit much.
notfastenough wrote:
a guest place on the ToB! That’s just adding insult to injury – well, not injury as such, just a bruised ego
crazy-legs wrote:
crazy-legs, i wouldn’t hold your breath, you get the same people on here baying for blood on virtually every article whereby a cyclist feels hard done to. They are no better than the buffoons who commit whatever offence imho, but thats what you get with freedom of speech.
Its not all black and white but lots of grey areas that some have literally no idea about.
AWPeleton wrote:
Yes people expecting a prosecution for law-breaking, (ie. dangerous driving) are as bad as dangerous drivers themselves.
Definitely a spot of buffonery about, you may need a mirror to spot it though.
The guy’s actually a cyclist
The guy’s actually a cyclist too.
Didn’t think my opinion of him could have went any lower. Safety courses can’t cure douche.
unconstituted wrote:
Ha ha. Yes, that was the icing on the cake.
Oh come on Brailsford! Where
Oh come on Brailsford! Where’s your “zero tolerance approach” now!? Report your driver to the police for due care and attention offence!
The video should be passed to
The video should be passed to the police and caution / points given. It is a police matter, not a “have some free kit and come as a guest to a stage” nonsense. The rider in question may not report it, but someone else should. What’s the best way?
Good on Sky for publicly
Good on Sky for publicly stating it’s not acceptable and doing something about it. Much better to help the driver understand the issues and re-train all their staff than to give him the sack.
Calling for the driver to be
Calling for the driver to be sacked seems a bit knee-jerk – training for all drivers in the organisation can only be a good thing.
Sky acknowledged the offence, appologied and took positive action. If every company employing coach/lorry/van drivers responded this way whenever one of their employees was reported for close-passes and other poor driving it would be a very positive thing.
dafyddp wrote:
I disagree. Endangering another person’s life in this manner for the sake of saving a few seconds of travel time should be considered gross misconduct for a professional driver. I believe that overtake should be treated as a criminal offence and sacking people for breaking the law is not uncommon. As Team Sky is closely linked with cycling, it would send a clear message to their other drivers to look out for cyclists and treat them appropriately.
dafyddp wrote:
for me its about my first reaction to the video, in that I felt it was,and still is, a totally unacceptable piece of driving regardless of whose bus it was, that wasnt acceptable or safe. But Im not getting the feeling from all TeamSky/Brailsford responses to it, that they see it quite the same way and thats what disappoints me
Sure theyve apologised, thats the least the can do, offered some freebies to the rider involved, yeah nice but still missing the elephant in the room AFAIC, and I totally accept the rider is happy with their response and doesnt want to take it further and I dont have a problem with that, I dont want the driver sacked or prosecuted thats just silly imo, I just want to know the driver and all of TeamSkys drivers are left in no doubt that it wasnt an acceptable overtake, and was far below the standard TeamSky expects, or expects to set out on the road.
because if a professional cyclist team cant set the standard for safe overtaking, what hope is there for anyone else getting it ?
their apology just reads like every other companies response to these things. sorry we got caught on camera, extra training for drivers,
Id like to “believe in better” than that.
Good on the cyclist for not
Good on the cyclist for not accepting Sky’s offer/PR crisis management effort.
One of the worse things about this episode is the cyclists coming to Sky’s defense and giving them the benefit of the doubt at every turn. The next time an HGV passes them within inches and nearly removes them from circulation I hope they’ll be happy with a vague promise of driver retraining and a chance to look around the company warehouse.
OK, put it this way.
OK, put it this way.
There are things that the roadcc Baying Pitchfork Mob would like to happen (driver thrown in jail for 100 years, Sky fined £billions, rider showered with free Pinarellos for ever etc)
There are things that SHOULD happen (police investigate, prosecute, charge, courts administer appropriate punishment). And/or Sky sack the driver.
However none of that WILL happen. Various reasons, none of them to do with Sky. Police are underfunded, underresourced, overworked and will give out the usual platitudes of “we’re very concerned” and then do fuck all. That’s the Police and Government to blame for that one. Rather crucially, the rider (you know, the person who actually experienced this first hand rather than watching it on a video…) has accepted Sky’s apology and their promise to re-train not just this driver but all their drivers which makes further prosecution even more unlikely.
If Sky sack the driver, within 10 minutes he’ll have a job at one of the other teams – the people who can drive these buses aren’t just your average Eddie Stobart driver, they’re integral parts of the team and their job goes far above simply “driving a big bus”. So Sky lose a key member of staff, he immediately gets a job doing the same thing for another team but, again rather crucially, won’t have been re-trained.
I agree the whole road safety laws, everything to do with road crime/punishment needs a complete re-write but this video, if you take out the fact that the bus says SKY down the side is no different to any one of the other millions of close pass videos on YouTube. And I suspect this has got a far better overall response than they ever did.
Complain / campaign for a change in the law, yes. Shout loudly at Sky on social media – probably a waste of time.
crazy-legs wrote:
Where is this ‘Braying Pitchfork mob’ on road.cc who wanted the ‘driver thrown in jail for 100 years, Sky fined £billions, rider showered with free Pinarellos for ever etc’
Can you quote them for us?
I had a look and at the moment it looks like you’ve made up an imaginary group of people, saying imaginary things and went on a rant about them. On a Sunday.
Are you alright?
Good job the tanker driver
Good job the tanker driver stopped.
It amazes me that in nearly all cases were there is going to be a likely collision between the offending driver, another innocent driver and a vulnerable cyclist, it’s mostly the cyclist that gets hit due to the mentality thats bred into drivers not to hit another vehicle, sod the cyclist. When someone chooses to subconsciously collide with a cyclist rather than another car where the driver is cocooned in a steel shell surrounded by airbags it’s shows just deep the negligence goes and a rethink of attitudes at the grass roots level is needed.
That Sky drivers instinct was not hit the tanker, but it would have been ok to knock the cyclist of his bike and probably under the wheels of his truck. That’s my point.
Critchio wrote:
Your point is spot-on. I suspect, though, that that is most people’s instincts… Find yourself rolling quickly towards a massive tanker or a squishy cyclist, and I’d put fairly hefty money on the vast majority of people veering in the squishy cyclist’s direction. And I doubt there’s much that can be changed about that.
The behaviour that can be changed is to not get into the situation in the first place. The inherent impatience on the roads on the part of a significant proportion of drivers is an epidemic and kills epidemic numbers of people, and ‘the government’ (whatever colour) treats it in exactly the same way that they treat most other difficult issues – ignore it and bang on about ‘making big decisions’.
Lol, the 2 people i expected
Lol, the 2 people i expected to reply did so empathically.
I really enjoy reading your comments it actually makes me think about my job and how lucky iam knowing there are people like yourself out there…………….
AWPeleton wrote:
Well.. I don’t see why Sky get to choose the punishment for dangerous driving.
freeewheelin wrote:
I don’t get that either. “We’ve spoken to the driver and he’s not going to be allowed chocolate digestives for the next week… only rich tea… and no dunking allowed for the rest of the naughty drivers either. There, sorted.”
AWPeleton wrote:
Yes, people tend to reply when comments are directed at them on message boards. Incredible prescience, well worth the self-satisfied weirdness
So when you’re done being smug over having average intelligence, can you tell us how people who want a prosecution for law breaking are a bad as law breakers as you were saying earlier.
This outta be great. Don’t run off now.
Did I name you ? No I didn’t
Did I name you ? No I didn’t but you obviously believed it was directed at yourself hence the reply.
Also some of the people on here are no better than those who commit an offence with their holier than thou attitude.
Now if you don’t like people picking up on your faults or even lies don’t post them.
AWPeleton wrote:
Story made it to the Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2016/sep/08/team-sky-bus-narrowly-avoids-amateur-cyclist-on-road-video?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweedle
AWPeleton wrote:
When you’re done waffling, can you tell us how people who want a prosecution for law breaking are a bad as law breakers as you were saying earlier.
Then you can get tell us about these ‘lies’ I’ve been telling.
Great stuff this
The driver is a cyclist too
The driver is a cyclist too but apparently forgot he was driving a bus.
I think the worrying thing
I think the worrying thing about David Brailsfords response is that it is exactly the same as the one we see in any case when a lawyer is trying to weasle his client out of responsibility; “I’ve spoken to Claudio myself and we had a chat about it and he is really upset about it.”
As if, somehow, the fact that he’s upset makes it all ok.
unconstituted wrote:
+1. Really, asking for some kind of prosecution, and some kind of punishment isn’t only a bad thing. But apparently, it’s so appaling it’s the ethical equivalent of risking peoples lives like this?
I think the worrying thing about David Brailsfords response is that it is exactly the same as the one we see in any case when a lawyer is trying to weasle his client out of responsibility; “I’ve spoken to Claudio myself and we had a chat about it and he is really upset about it.”
As if, somehow, the fact that he’s upset makes it all ok.— kitsunegari
Yeah, I thought he should be sacked. But maybe that’s too harsh. But even a short suspension was too much? Come on. He also went on about how hard it is to tell close it actually was before apologizing again. So a couched apology with no further consequences ends up being the end result, when you remove all the spin. Not enough, IMHO. YMMV.
Also, just looking at it from a PR standpoint, it seems like that bus driver has had to have accrued some major brownie points to get off with a slap in the wrist for that.
This was a shocking bit of
This was a shocking bit of driving and cannot be presented in any other way. Sky’s response to this PR disaster, whilst not equally shocking, simply beggars belief and makes me question whether the whole Sky Rides thing was a cynical bit of cheapish advertising for a company that has never quite won the hearts of the people. Anyway, the participants are trying to move on. The rider has made peace with Sky, and their drivers are to receive more training. Ummh…
I think Sky should be asked/pressured to reflect on what has happened and to consider using their considerable media clout to run the equivalent of the old public service commercials. They could link up with Chris boardman, who made that wonderful series of videos for British Cycling, and run those/other videos during primetime commercial breaks to alert as may vehicular road users as possible to our right to be on the roads and their legal obligation to comply with the highway code and our Laws and to share those roads safely. They could run it under a ” we all make mistakes and have to learn banner…” I dont mind as long as the word gets out as to what is and is not acceptable/lawful/safe.
bobinski wrote:
Which then becomes yet another of those “awareness” or “share the road” campaigns which are all complete bollocks. The excellent Beyond the Kerb blog by Bez (who posts occasionally on here) is well worth a read for some insights to all those “respect” campaigns – they broadly tender to the default that when a driver thinks share the road, they mean get out of the way and when a cyclist thinks share the road they mean please don’t kill me.
http://beyondthekerb.org.uk/
Like it or not, you’ve got the best deal out of this that you’re going to get. The countless thousands of close passes on YouTube, the failed private prosecution of a close pass by Martin Porter QC, the actual outcome of this particular case all show why the driver is not even going to get a caution for this from the Police.
If you want that to change, that’s letters to Government, not Sky.