VIDEO: Bus in Reading nearly takes out cyclist

A Reading cyclist has uploaded a video showing how he was almost hit by an oncoming bus in Coley Park, despite having right of way and being clearly visible.

In the short film, uploaded to YouTube by the user The Barspeed last month, the bus can be seen approaching on a gloomy evening, overtaking cars to squeeze through the gap despite the oncoming cyclist.

The rider says the bus missed his right handlebar by an inch, which was inexplicable given that he had a bright flashing front light and sounded his air horn.

The bus was the number 11 service which runs between Coley Park and Reading town centre.

A spokesman for Reading Buses told Get Reading: "We do our very best at all times to live in harmony with all other road users, especially cyclists.

"Our drivers receive thorough training and ongoing awareness training in various topics, including road risk.

"We have been made aware of this matter from 17 days ago on our bronze 11 route and will investigate it internally.”

Earlier this year we reported another video from Reading, showing helmet cam footage of a dispute between a cyclist and drivers; after a close pass, an extraordinary volume of swearing, a pavement pursuit and a kick at the cyclist’s rear wheel, the driver involved takes a face-first swan dive into the road.

The video, shot in Reading, begins with the familiar scene of a car passing dangerously closely to a cyclist. A short distance later, the uploader, uphillfreewheeler, stops next to the driver and tells him he’d been too close when overtaking. This elicits a quite spectacular barrage of swearing from the driver, the gist of which is that he feels the cyclist should have pulled to the side to let him past. He also has an interesting view on what the Highway Code says about cyclists.

After a short debate about the finer points of road safety, the dispute escalates from swearing to threats before culminating in the driver chasing the cyclist down the pavement and launching a kick at his rear wheel. This causes him to lose balance, after which he stumbles, soars through the air and lands face first in the road.

Click here to view the video. Please note, unless you mute it, this video’s not remotely safe for work.