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Video: Passing bus brushes Nottingham cyclist’s elbow
Helmet cam footage taken on Nottingham’s Mansfield Road on February 20 shows a bus passing a cycle commuter so closely that it actually brushed his elbow as it went by.
Video uploader, Cyberslayer, said that he made eye contact with the bus driver at the lights before they set off.
“He was only in lane two because we both knew that lane one was going to be full of parked cars. As the lanes started to merge he makes no attempt to ease off and let me carry on in front and brings his bus within inches of my handlebars.
“The bus actually brushed past my elbow and caused me to take my right hand off the handlebars. I didn't dare brake one handed as the heavy bike needs two hands to keep it straight whilst stopping. I just let the bike roll along downhill, hoping that the bus wasn't going to pull over any further and desperately concentrating on keeping the bike heading in a straight line.”
Cycling UK hits £12,000 Kickstarter ‘close pass’ target in less than 48 hours
Cyberslayer contacted Trentbarton bus company about the incident. He was told that the footage had been passed to the general manager.
“She has advised that the bus doesn't deviate from his lane, and if your lane is impeded it would perhaps be prudent to wait until lane two was clear. Equally, our driver could have read the road ahead, seen you and the parked cars and slowed to allow you into the second lane for this manoeuvre. She will be speaking to the driver, and showing him the footage so that he can be aware of the situation and hopefully will make better decisions in reading the road ahead.
“We are truly sorry for any distress caused, it did look very close, though in the driver’s defence, he did not appear to move across his lane, but as stated above, he could have read the road ahead better, and thank you for letting us know about this incident.”
After speaking to Nottinghamshire Police, Cyberslayer was told that due to the fact that he wasn't hit by the bus, didn’t sustain any injuries and there are no independent witnesses, there would be no further police involvement.
In a similar incident last week, a London bus drifted into a cycle lane, almost squeezing a cyclist off the road.
The video uploader, Ian Croft, asked: “Is this bad driving or poor cycling?”
FOI request finds 1 in 10 complaints against London bus drivers involve cyclist
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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58 comments
The cyclist didn't read the situation well and should've backed off. That said, the bus driver crossed a solid white line on the cycle lane, which is a traffic offence.
.
SS - I'm not suggesting his move between the cars and the bus wasn't stupid but the bus driver is driving on the paint the whole way through, never giving the cyclist enough room!
if you check the width of the lanes here on streetview, you can see that there's very little choice - equally with the car parking spot right after the bus stop - it seems a lot of the factors attributed to the road users are actually symptoms of the road design
I don't think either party is completely without blame here. The bus driver could have easily seen that the cyclist was going to be pressed up against the parked cars during the overtaking, but as said previously, the cyclist could have taken action to avoid the situation as well. It would have been interesting to see the attitude of the bus driver had been had the cyclist moved over to the right hand lane straight from the green light in order to claim the lane (as directed by the arrows on the road). It does look like this 'Bus Lane' is actually a 'Parking Lane' after a certain hour, which given there are still buses on that route at that time seems a bit pointless!
Not sure this is worthy of an article though.
Tend to agree.
The cyclist should have moved into the other lane to overtake the parked cars - either before or after the bus came alongside. You aren't entitled to be allowed in by someone in the process of overtaking you and he seemed stubborn to carry on into the tiny gap when easing off a bit would have let the bus pass first.
The bus driver might've done better to anticipate the cyclist's actions, though, and either been sure his bus could pass safely before the parked cars, or eased off a little to allow the cyclist to get ahead. We all need to take account of others' foibles, especially those more vulnerable than ourselves - it's good "defensive driving" and bus drivers should be well-versed in it.
The bus is in the appropriate position through the clip, simply watch the video.
0.46 Bloke on a bike looks over his shoulder bus is approaching in his lane.
(at this point you would make you intention to move to another lane, as the bus is too close to safely do so the vehicle in the inner lane should wait to change lanes when safe to do so, bloke on the bike does not do this and does not deviate from his course or speed.)
0.48 bus approaches road furniture, Bloke on a bike is still positioned to the far right of his lane still not deviating from his course or speed..
0.50 bus and Bloke on a bike converge on the road furniture Bloke on a bike still positioned to the far right still not deviating from his course or speed..
0.52 bus has completed the major portion of the overtake Bloke on a bike still not deviating from his course or speed.
0.54 Bloke on a bike still not deviating from his course or speed heads into the gap he is complaining about.
All told you have approximetly 10 seconds there when all the bloke on the bike on the bike had to do was dab his brakes look over and pull behind the bus. Mountains Mole Hills.
Just a question SS, do you think the bus is in an appropriate position at any time?
Down with this sort of thing!
Moral outrage!
Another vote that the 'Bloke on a bike' is at fault, he put himself in that position, if he cut up the bus in a car there would have been lots of horns an obscentities blah blah, do it on a bike and he's put himself in a life really dodgy position.
If he was driving one would hope he'd see the obstruction, check behind him, indicate and pull out when the next gap came, he clearly didn't do this...reminds me of the bike courier clip where he decides to aim for a gap between a bus and a truck and guess what he doesn't come out winning.
edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2UsaO9vEJs
Yes he's on a bike, but it doesn't make him right, a GoPro and a Youtube account isn't a substitue for a healthy sense of self preservation and a dash of common sense.
The cyclist is wide in their lane and the move out is a bit dodgy but this is all after the event. The bus is far too close from the first seconds - that magic white paint doesn't defy physics!
The bus driver knew he was going to have to pull in at the next bus stop just past the parked cars. But he was so eager to overtake the cyclist, (people can't stand having to be delayed for a moment) and put the cyclist in danger, and him (the driver) causing harm to a human being, all for the sake of 30 odd seconds. We share the road, or at least we should. Very sad.
Fine point Abbie, though I'd say that the bus driver may have gained at most 5 seconds, from this dangerous manouvre. Just because it's a seperate lane, does not mean that a safe overtaking distance is not necessary. I think most of us have been close passed while we are in left hand cycle lanes, some drivers will run their wheels right up to the line.
And in the Ian Croft video the bus driver is clearly driving within the mandatory cycle lanes.
It's one of the things I hate about cycling in traffic - having to decide whether (and how) to try and merge in front of speeding vehicles when my lane is blocked ahead. Most of all when the cars blocking my lane are parked illegally (which is often the case, as there seems to be little enforcement of parking rules).
I'd favour a change in the law to make it legal for any passerby to vandalise or remove any car that is parked in other than a legal parking place. If its not a legal parking place, its not private property, its just some junk someone has dumped in the street, no different from an old mattress or broken bit of furniture.
It all comesdown to common sense.
The cyclist should have read the road ahead and been prepared to fall in behind the bus, and the bus driver should have realised the cyclist was going to get cut off and prepared for the cyclist to try and squeeze past the parked cars.
As a driver, if i see cyclists coming up to road blockages, I let them past the blokage as I know I could then overtake moments later.
I'm not sure which part of Mansfield road this incident occured on, but having been there on a work trianing course last week, I can safely say that it is an awful road layout with two lanes merging into one, then back again with many changes in speed limits and cars parked wherever they like, in bus lanes, cycle lanes and on double yellows.
Amazing how police seem to pick and chose which sources of evidence are actually evidence.
Post a video of yourself doing 160 on the motorway. Nicked. Post a video of yourself being hit by a bus. Sorry, no witnesses.
I believed bus driver "misjudged" the speed of this cyclist's capability
Look how fast he accelerating, I think bus driver was try to pass him asap but seems like cyclist somehow too fast and bus driver misjudged it and then collide happened
He could just slow down, he know bus is behind him and there car park in front of him . . .
By the way, It is downhill? a little slope?
Loving the way the bus says "caring" on the back windscreen.
Of course the real problem here is too many cars and not enough decent public transport and cycling/pedestrian infrastructure.
It's easy to say after the fact that the cyclist should have done this or the bus driver should have done that but personally I'd blame the road designers and local council, their is far too much terrible road design that forces vulnerable road users into these situations,if the cars were parked illegally and not regularly being fined and towed then the council are creating the situation and if the cars are there legally that's even worse, I ride regularly ride in this area and the roads are not safe for cycling
Loving the comments here. How many of you geniuses would have passed that cyclist that closely, while driving a bus?
If any of you admit you'd have done what the bus driver did, regardless of the number of lanes or parked cars, then you have absolutely no right, EVER, to complain about a close pass again.
Positioning, lanes, parked cars - all irrelevant. A bus driver chose to get within inches of a cyclist's arm and half of you blame the cyclist. What a bunch of fucking morons.
The cyclist made all the choices.
The bus driver simply drove in his lane.
The cyclist chose to position himself right next to the bus and then chose to squeeze between a moving bus and a row of parked cars. He did all this because he chose the wrong lane.
If we mindlessly defend idiotic cycling then we make ourselves look ridiculous. This makes it even harder for us to be taken seriously when campaigning for better infrastructure etc.
You are entirely wrong. Bus is following the cyclist in the SAME LANE across the junction, then chooses to bully and force cyclist into the bus/cycle lane (as the bus/cycle lane starts), clipping his arm in the process.
You are defending idiotic and dangerous driving and it's tragic that you cannot see that.
Would you have overtaken a cyclist like that when pulling away from traffic lights, driving a bus?!
The 2 lanes are clearly visible at the start of the clip. The cyclist has chosen the wrong lane.
The bus also does not pass until the cyclist has entered the marked bus lane on the other side of the junction.
If you wish to enter another lane you have to give way to the traffic in that lane.
The cyclist chose to ride right at the edge of his lane, he also chose not to slow down at all once it was clear he wasn't going to be able to get into the right hand lane ahead of the bus, he then chose to make an insanely dangerous manoeuvre.
We all occasionally end up in the wrong lane, that's life, you wait until the lane you need to be in is clear, signal and move into the correct lane.
The line demarcating the lanes essentially acts as a 'Give Way' line.
Would you pull out from a 'Give Way' junction in front of a bus? The same applies to crossing the lane line.
The cyclist's actions were stupid from start to finish.
Here's a view across the junction.
Clearly 2 lanes wide.
Screenshot_20170312-133522.png
Not at all: no dividing line, so just a single very wide lane.
(I would have held back, in the cyclists situation, and chalked it up as a learning experience; but "it's safe, because the bus didn't leave its lane" is a rubbish response).
That's not how junctions work. There are usually no lane markings across a signal controlled junction.
According to the Government's 'Traffic Signs and Road Markings Manual' (a real page turner, highly recommended)
"The number of lanes on the exit side of the
junction should match the number of ahead lanes at the Stop line. If localised widening of an exit is necessary to achieve this, the subsequent reduction in the number of lanes should be carried out beyond the junction over a distance of at least 100m"
They also include a handy diagram.
As you can see, no lane markings across junction but lanes continue.
The bus drove within its lane and was not required to give way to the cyclist. It may have been polite to do so but that's not really the point. The cyclist's actions were dangerous and he was lucky to have not been killed.
Screenshot_20170312-145510.png
so why does that not apply in London then ? there are lots of junctions with 3 straight ahead lanes one side that merge into 2 on the exit, actually thinking about it there are more than a couple of those in Nottingham too.
and I presume the "bus lane" was provided for the bus,if the bus cant use the bus lane because cars are parked in it, why are cars allowed to be parked in a bus lane ?
This bus lane is only in operation at certain hours of the day. It says so on the blue sign just to the left of the bus lane at the first set of lights. You can see it in the video or on street view.
I imagine that the diagram is the gold standard but in areas like London with road layouts that are hundreds of years old it can't always be met.
The point was that the lack of road markings across a junction don't indicate that the lanes have ceased to exist. Obviously if you marked all the lanes in all directions across a junction you'd just have a mess.
If you look at the satellite image of that junction you can see it pretty much follows the diagram layout. There is no tapering of road width after the junction, the width of the road stays constant throughout, the markings for the bus lane are just tapered in.
So the onus is on drivers and cyclists to remain in their lanes and only switch lanes when it is safe to do so in accordance with the highway code.
Actually my point was that the road in the foreground of your picture appeared to be a single wide lane, with no lane dividers.
So, the road *after* the junction.
That's a different thing from whether or not there were lane dividers *through* the junction (I wouldn't expect there to be, because as you rightly point out, the junction would just be a chaotic mass of lines).
That picture is looking back across the junction in the opposite direction to the travel in the video, you can see a white line in the bottom left of the picture which is where the road markings reappear after the junction.
I'm not sure I'm describing it very well so here's a Google maps view of the whole junction!
Screenshot_20170312-191222.png
Corrected your alternative facts for you
Fuck this shit, I'm also going to space.
The bus chose the wrong lane?
The bus chose the only lane that was open.
As explained in my other posts there are 2 lanes before junction and 2 lanes after. It is a standard junction design.
Cyclist rode to the extreme right of his own lane, the bus is clearly just driving in the middle of his own lane.
You can cry about alternative facts if you want but there is a video. The junction is also easy to find on Google maps so your claims about tapering etc can be demonstrated to be nonsense.
Finally this isn't like a normal overtaking manoeuvre as both vehicles have there own lane. The fact the cyclist chooses to cycle so close to the edge of his lane as to place himself in danger is entirely his own fault.
The highway code is clear in this, if you leave your lane and cause any hindrance to vehicles in the lane you are moving in to then you are at fault.
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