Video: TfL investigating as cyclist films bus driver placing bets on mobile

Transport for London (TfL) and bus operator Arriva London are investigating footage posted to Twitter by a cyclist that showed a bus driver apparently using an online betting app on his smartphone while at the wheel of his bus on a busy street in the heart of the capital.

Captured on Ludgate Hill on the evening of Monday 5 September, the video shows the cyclist challenging the driver, who dismisses his concerns, over illegally using a handheld mobile phone while driving.

“Are you placing your bets while driving a bus?” he asks the driver.

“So you’re betting, and driving a bus with passengers? You’re out of your mind!”

When the driver protests that he’s doing nothing wrong, he’s challenged again: “You’re betting on football and driving your bus – are you out of your mind?”

With the bus driver continuing to insist that there’s nothing wrong with him using his phone at the wheel, the person recording replies: “Every time I cycle my life is in danger because of drivers like you.”

Placing bets on his smartphone and driving a london bus! Unbelievable... @TfL @arrivanorthwest @EveningStandard pic.twitter.com/okhE9HLNWs

— Diogo (@Diogo_pit) September 6, 2016

TfL said via its Bus Alerts Twitter feed that it would investigate.

@diogo_pit Many thanks, we'll try and identify the driver asap!

— TfL Bus Alerts (@TfLBusAlerts) September 6, 2016

Arriva London, the operator of the bus, is also looking into the incident.

@Diogo_pit Thank you for bringing this our attention. An investigation is underway and the appropriate action will be taken.

— Arriva London (@Arriva_London) September 6, 2016

TfL figures cited by Tom Kearney on his Safer Oxford Street blog in July show that in 2015/16, London buses were involved in more than 27,000 collisions, 580 of those involving pedestrians and 258 in which a cyclist was involved.

Mr Kearney himself was left in a coma after being hit by a bus on Oxford Street shortly before Christmas 2009, and is now a highly active road safety campaigner.