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news
Cyclist who fails to 'hang back' punished by London bus driver
A London ‘Boris bus’ driver has been caught on camera punishing a woman cyclist for not hanging behind it.
The cyclist is seen moving to the front of the bus at a junction, but as the lights turn green the driver pushes past her, forcing her to jump up onto the kerb to avoid being crushed.
The helmet cam cyclist who posted the video online, Silvio Diego, wrote: “Another success story of the ‘Hang Back’ campaign, bus drivers think they’re entitled to nudge into the pavement any cyclist who is not willing to ‘Hang Back’.
“Bus driver saw this cyclist but maybe because she took a second to realize the lights were green he decided to nudge her into the pavement and out of his way. Appalling driving and hope TFL and DFT take notice.”
We recently reported how the Department for Transport (DfT) has said it has “no plans to withdraw” its controversial ‘Hang Back’ cycle safety video which was widely criticised by cycling campaigners when it was launched last week, despite a call from Cycling UK to withdraw it.
The charity, which has accused the DfT of “victim blaming” through the film, last week wrote to transport minister Andrew Jones to call for it to be pulled and to urge the department to work alongside cycling campaigners on safety messages, but its appeal has been rebuffed.
It said that DfT officials this week told it: “The level of criticism is unfortunate, however we have no plans to withdraw the video.”
The film seeks to warn cyclists about the danger posed by a lorry turning left – although the footage appears to show the vehicle’s driver overtaking the rider shortly before a junction, giving him no choice but to be caught on the inside of the vehicle.
Silvio Diego commented: “The Department for Transport’s (DfT) THINK campaign has come under heavy criticism for releasing a video which appears to blame a cyclist for a collision with a left turning lorry.
“The clip, which shows a number of colliding forces in slow motion, including a butcher chopping meat and two rams butting each other, interspersed with snippets of a cyclist riding on the inside of a left-turning lorry, begins with the caption “things you shouldn’t get caught between”, and ends with images of a bicycle crushed under HGV wheels.
“The controversial Department for Transport (DfT) road safety film released earlier towards the end of September shifts responsibility away from the person doing harm, and that parts of it appear ‘to seek to make entertainment out of death.’”
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Even a slow cyclist can seem fast to somebody who is standing still and not expecting to see a bike.
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All in the article - road tax.
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30 comments
Looks like the "hang back" stickers are on the wrong vehicles...
Presumed liability is the only way to clear roads from these potential murderers. In most EU country he'd have lost his licence and his job as he deserves.
I had a rather scary experience with another "Boris Bus" driver on Whitehall 3 years ago and TBH I reckon I'm only here today as I was in the right hand lane when I stopped for the red light as they blew through in the left one.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwfPieby1I
Wear damn helmet, seriously . . .
Why? To save her from being dragged under the bus?
He was probably talking about the passengers.
Seriously, are you new here?
cyclehelmets.org
The other day a pedestrian jumped on a busy road and started jogging towards me down the cycling lane with a barrier preventing him on pavement side and a bus road side. I missed him by miracle, he turned around and insulted me for not wearing a helmet...
The pedestrian was either stupid or a shit and tried to use any lack of helmet as a distraction tactic, possibly to save their arrogant pride for feeling fear after a near collision.
The cyclehelmets.org site is correct that a lot of "lids" won't save you from even painful, let alone higher, force damage, especially if the skin is too weak to hold the helmet together during impact or the compression component is too thin or brittle. Just because a cyclist often travels slower than a heavy road vehicle doesn't mean that a lighter helmet is adequate when on the road because those other vehicle could make it useless even for a glancing or heavy impact, but wearing no helmet is frankly suicidal, maybe even for just a fall! I had some MET Parachutes with a stronger skins which dented and saw significant foam compression and splitting for slower collisions, which left me a little dazed, so now use a stronger down-hill helmets with a much tougher skin, thicker foam and a proper guard which I 'tested' by accident a few years ago so know they are effective better!
regardless of anything else in the video, this is a clear failing to stop at the scene. The police don't normally seem to do much for close passes or even hitting cycliosts. But failing to stop seems to be taken a little more seriously.
Yes, but I'm not convinced that a court would find that this was an "accident" that requires a stop. Not studied the video closely: is there an actual collision? I couldn't see one.
Well either we have an accidental contact where the driver is obliged to ascertain the extent of the injury/damage, or we have assault using a motor vehicle.
The guy with the camera should have stopped the bus and called the police immediately. As it stands this is hit and run.
Time to start carrying a LifeHammer strapped to the top tube. Or maybe just an ice pick
or just activate the emergency engine stop button on the rear of the bus, so that you can take your time in explaining to the driver the error of his ways?
Do these buses still have the emergency stop button. I'm pretty sure most buses have it under the engine cover to prevent young scamps doing this very thing.
I hope the ice-pick is not intended to be 'applied' to HGV tyres. The escaping air-stream will likely KSI anyone it its path.
Words fail me, such drivers have no place in our society let alone on the roads.
The driver needs to lose his job, how can it be acceptable to us your vehicle as a weapon
Cooking up a suitable punishment at the mo. Dragged under a bus in public could be apt and might send the best message.
Highway keelhauling?
And televised
So dark these days..
This incident should result in disciplinary action against the bus driver.
They are advertising this "hang back" campaign on the back of plenty of London buses. I noticed this on Wednesday when a bus overtook and immediately pulled in directly in front of me! Fortunately no harm done apart from my blood being boiled.
I assume this is the reason DfT couldn't withdraw the campaign - already printed and pasted on...
utterly disgraceful bit of driving, I just dont get the mindset of someone controlling roughly 12.5 tonnes of bus who thinks its perfectly ok to use their bus to nudge people off the road like that.
Actally looking at the video again, at the time we see the bus, the cyclist is already at the white line. I see no evidence the cyclist went past the bus, could equally be the bus pulled alongside the cyclist. Given his driving afterwards I'm inclined to suspect this is the case.
Utterly intentional act by the driver, not only is he fully aware of the cyclist, but in any case, no professional driver of a large vehicle would normally take that bend with that line, placing his front wheels almost over the kerb on a left curve, meaning he has to then correct to drag the rear wheels along the kerb. (Looks to me like he made contact with the rear wheels)
Clearly the issue here is that she didn't picture the bus as a piano falling from the sky albeit one whose trajectory seem unaffected by normal gravitational forces.
It was quite clearly deliberate. The driver knew she was there which is why he was being calculated in his nudging , so as not to knock her off but nevertheless push her off the road. Had he not known she was there he would likely have pulled away more quickly and probably there would have been a nasty accident. It's part of his professional skills as a bus driver to be aware of her though. And he knew she was there yet intentionally intimidated her with the bus and pushed her off the road. That's an offense you'd think and ought to disqualify him from being a professional driver. I'll bet a penny to a pound that nothing comes of this
That really is a very unpleasant and deliberate piece of driving. Bang to rights if there is any justice.