Video: How to teach bus drivers to give cyclists space

Here’s an innovative approach to teaching bus drivers how to share space safely with cyclists – by getting them to pedal on static bikes while one of the vehicles they would normally be driving passes a bit too close for comfort.

The video below was posted to Facebook by Spanish-language site Avanzamos TV, which says it comes from Brazil.

The training was carried out in Cariacica in the state of Espirito Santo on the Atlantic coast by non-profit organisations SEST (the Social Transport Service) and SENAT (the National Transport Training Service).

Set up by the Brazilian government in 1993 with the backing of the National Transport Confederation, SEST and SENAT aim to encourage people into the country’s fast growing public transport sector and develop their skills as well as addressing the welfare and other needs of their families.

Here in the UK, a number of businesses in the haulage and public transport sectors, often with the backing of local authorities and transport bodies, encourage drivers of the vehicles they operate to experience life from the saddle with the aim of reinforcing how important it is to give cyclists room.

We’ve yet to hear of any deploying deliberate close passes so their employees can find out what that feels like at first hand – although judging by the guy who hops off his bike halfway through the Brazilian video, it’s sometimes way too close for comfort, as any cyclist knows.